Desolation
by QueenHimiko
Summary: A deadly, lethal plague has swept through the Inner World, killing most of the population in a mere month. And now Gourry has contracted it.
1. Chapter 1

The thin walls did little more than slightly muffle the sounds of the horrible, hacking cough coming from Gourry's room. She felt her heart contract with each barking convulsion as anxiety built within her. Over and over again she kept telling herself that this could not be happening, that the horrible nightmare she and Gourry had found themselves living in for the last month would end and the world would be right again, but every time she tried to reign in her fears, the sounds of his coughing would bring them back into stark focus.

The sounds of coughing quieted momentarily. Lina closed her eyes, hoping against hope that he would go to sleep and wake up healthy and whole. But when the sounds of another round of coughing erupted from his room she decided she could not sit quietly anymore. She threw her bedclothes off and grabbed her mantle and left her room, making it to his in seconds. She knocked, called out, "It's me," and then opened the door without being invited in.

The door was unlocked. These days, there was no need to lock the door. Gourry looked up at her, his hand to his mouth as he continued to cough. "Lina." He said, his voice raspy, "What are you doing here?"

"Your cough is getting worse." She stated as she walked over to his bed and felt his forehead, "Dammit, Gourry, you should have told me you're running a fever."

"It's just a cold, isn't it?" he said, pausing to cough again as she shook her head and started rummaging through her mantle, "Go back to bed."

"'Just a cold?'" Lina repeated, wondering how he could be so dismissive when every town they walked through now was deserted thanks to the plague. "What if it's not 'just a cold?'"

He held her gaze but gave no reply. The horrifying thought that he might be manifesting the earliest symptoms of the plague lingered in the air, but both of them were too frightened to speak it. Feeling that she had delivered her point, she grabbed a stone container and a stack of herbs from her mantle.

"You should go back to bed. Before both of us get sick."

"Idiot." She said as she sorted through the herbs and put in a mix of Epsom salt and some other, more magical concoctions meant to ease open the airways and poured them into the container. "I'm not the one coughing. Besides, we'll make it to Seyruun tomorrow, provided that you stay in good shape that is."

Yet Lina was worried that Seyruun might not be the panacea they had hoped it was when they first decided to go there. When they started to note the widespread devastation that the plague had wrought they reasoned that Seyruun was the best place to go to get help. Coldly they had to turn their backs on afflicted townspeople wherever they went, rationalizing that they could do little for them. Both of them were fighters, not healers. But surely Seyruun, the White Magic Capital, had whipped out a cure, and if they got there then they could dispense the medication on their travels.

So they made to Seyruun with all due haste, their travels made easier when they no longer had to pay for lodgings because the inns were empty, but more time consuming due to the fact that restaurants everywhere were closed and they had to hunt and prepare their own food.

Lina was hoping that the devastation they saw would lessen as they reached the outskirts of Seyruun. That would mean that a cure had been found and spread through the outlaying cities. But instead it was worse. Bodies lay in the streets, the ill left to die outside alone because their families were too scared of catching the plague. Not a soul stirred in the towns they passed. Town after town was empty, save the vultures and other scavengers who were happy to feed on the bodies. The smell of death and decay choked the air that was once filled with the sounds of life.

Lina was shocked by how much devastation the plague had wrought in a mere month. At first they would pass a few houses with a red flag hanging from the window, a signal not to enter because someone was ill. But the flags became more numerous. People holed up in their homes rather than risk socializing, leaving restaurants empty and their owners wary of strangers. The ill were gathered in makeshift hospitals, but soon there were more sick people than people to care for them. And now, town after town seemed to house only the dead.

Now, Lina was nervous about what she would find when she reached the palace. Her hopes were growing dimmer that it was a magical cure. If there was one, they would have heard something about it by now.

Which made the development of Gourry's cough all the more frightening. How many times in their travels had they heard that it started with a cough?

Lina cast a spell over the concoction in the container to activate its full potential, and then another one to fill the container with water, and a third to boil it. She then put the lid on and set it on the nightstand. "This will keep the air healthy and your lungs clear." She explained as she dug into her mantle again as steam started to issue from the container. She pulled out a book and some more herbs and a pestle, and quickly found the index before flipping back to find the recipe she needed.

She looked through the herbs she had and thanked her lucky stars that she had everything she needed, though she wasn't sure if she had enough camphor. Gourry's continued coughing heightened her anxiety as she put the ingredients into the pestle and ground them into a thick, sharp smelling paste. She took another moment to murmur another spell over the paste and then set it on the table.

"Here," she said, "Let me arrange those pillows."

He sat up a bit as she arranged the pillows so he was propped up slightly, and then helped ease him back down. She thought nothing of unbuttoning his shirt and applying the paste until he asked, "Lina?"

She blushed, realizing that she was doing what she had dreamt of doing so often when he was healthy and whole. How often had she quietly admired his fine build? How often had she yearned to run her fingers across his broad chest? So focused was she on getting the paste applied correctly that she hadn't thought about the potential sexual nature of what she was doing until he drew attention to it, and she wished he hadn't.

"S-sorry." She stammered, "There's a pattern I need to apply it in to heighten its effectiveness. It's easier for me to do it then to teach you how to."

"Okay." He said, and she wondered if the reddish tint to his face was from the fever or something else.

Now that her mind was on carnal matters, there was no turning back. It didn't help that the lack of people they had encountered over the past few days had left her feeling desolate, lonely, and desperate for the touch of another. And what a marvel he was to touch! His muscles were firm and warm and so smooth under her fingers that she had to resist the temptation to explore him at her leisure. She felt as though she could stroke him all night, and not for the first time she wondered why she was never able to get it together. Still, there was a job to do, and Gourry's life was hanging in the balance, so she ignored her desires and applied the paste in the pattern of one of the many healing symbols, designed to clear the air ways, strengthen the immune system, and diminish body aches.

When she finished she closed her eyes and chanted another spell. Then she smiled tiredly and grabbed a rag from her cape and started to wipe her fingers. "How are you feeling now?" she asked.

"Better, actually." He said, "The cough is gone."

"Good. I'm going to brew some tea now."

He watched her quietly as she pulled the ingredients from her mantle and set about to brewing a pot. "Here you are, this should help as well." She said when she had finished as she handed him a cup. Once he had finished and set it on the table she ordered, "Go on and get some rest." And without another word she grabbed a book and opened it.

"What about you? Aren't you going to rest?" he said.

Lina smiled, "I'm not the one coughing. I'll watch over you, make sure you stay stable. Just let me know if you need anything."

"Lina…"

"Sleep, Gourry." She commanded, "We need to get to Seyruun tomorrow, so you'll need all of the rest you can get now."

He stared at her for a moment, before saying quietly, "I don't want you to get this."

Lina closed her book, looking at him in shock as fear exploded within her. Was he admitting that he had the plague? "And I'm not going to leave you alone in the middle of the street to die!" she shot back, "Besides, we're so joined at the hip that if you have it then it's only a matter of time before I get ill. Which is why we need to get to Seyruun, and fast! So go to sleep!"

He stared at her in alarm for a few second as, to her horror, tears started to flow down her face. "It's that damn camphor." She said as she swiped at her eyes, "It's worse than onions for getting me to tear up."

He leaned back on the pillows, "I'm always telling people that beneath the surface, you're someone who really cares." He said quietly. "Night, Lina."

She struggled against her tears as he closed his eyes as she wondered why Gourry? Gourry, perhaps the sweetest person she had ever met, and without a doubt the most loyal. That he was sick didn't feel right at all.

Because if it had to have been one of them, it should have been her.

* * *

Lina had never seen Seyruun so desolate. Not a soul wandered the streets, aside from Gourry and herself. No vendors hawked their wares, the soft serve kiosks were boarded shut. The foul stench of decay rose from the streets, thankfully free from bodies. Occasionally Lina thought she glimpsed a sign of life gazing at them from behind a fluttering curtain, but no one stepped out to greet them. Lina couldn't blame them.

She stole a glance at Gourry, who was pale with a sheen of sweat upon his brow as he surveyed the streets between rounds of coughing. She looked ahead to the approaching palace, the flags lowered to half-mast. Fearfully Lina wondered if Amelia or any of the royal family was still alive.

Desolate images of the palace, covered in a veneer of dust shifted through her mind. The once majestic corridors so bustling with life empty, save for the corpses of the royal family. Learning that her friends were dead, watching helplessly as the same fate fell upon Gourry. Morbidly she wondered if everyone would fall ill and die but her, leaving her the sole human left in the world.

She smiled grimly, marveling at her newfound pessimism. Still, she realized when the only good thing she could immediately see about coming to Seyruun was that if Gourry died it would be in the comforts of a palace and not an inn, it was hard to see any sort of bright side. Dead was dead.

Lina approached the gates with a great sense of trepidation. What would they find? Through them she saw a lone figure in blue, and she relaxed a bit. A sole sentry. So there was life at the palace! She opened the gates, and the man turned to regard her. "Miss Lina Inverse?" he asked, a hint of awe in his voice.

Lina did not recognize him. One sentry in Seyruun looked just like another. Suddenly she felt horror over her previous callousness. If the past month had taught her anything, it was that every life was important. She was seized with desire to know his name. "That's me. I seem to have forgotten your name."

"Rudy, we've not met really, I just remember seeing you during the incident with the royal sorcerers." His dark eyes shined with hope as he asked, "Have you come to save us again?"

Lina felt her stomach drop. Any hope she had left of them having a cure vanished with his question. "Actually, we need help. Gourry here," she said, reaching to grab his arm but, uncharacteristically, he pulled away just out of reach. "He's sick."

Rudy looked at Gourry and nodded, looking crestfallen. "I see. Princess Amelia turned the east wing into a hospital. Follow me."

Lina felt some relief over the mention of her friend. "So Amelia's okay?"

"Since she's immune to the plague…"

"Immune?" Lina cut in, "Immune how?"

"I guess you wouldn't know. Sorcerers who can perform high level magic, only the most complex of spells like the Ra Tilt and Dragon Slave, seem to be immune. At least, there's no report of someone who can perform those spells also falling ill."

"Really?" Lina asked, "Interesting."

"Hey Lina," Gourry asked, his voice weak. "What does immune mean?"

"It means that people who can cast high level spells can't get the plague." Lina explained.

"So, you can't catch it." He repeated.

Usually Lina would have felt annoyed with him. But facing the prospect of life without his stupid, ridiculous questions had done something funny. It made her appreciate them. "No, I can't."

He put a hand on her shoulder, "Thank goodness."

Lina felt her throat grow tight as, even through the thick, protective barrier of her shoulder guards she could feel just how badly he was shaking. As he leaned against her she realized that, even as sick as he was, his first thought was still to keep her safe. She wondered how long he struggled to walk on his own until hearing that she was immune, how he managed to keep himself going as she wrapped an arm around him to support him, noting just how unsteady he was. Her heart heavy, she asked Rudy to lead the way.

"So, are you a powerful sorcerer, Rudy?" she asked quietly.

"No, I was actually one of the first in Seyruun to become ill."

A beacon of hope flared within her. "And you survived?"

Rudy nodded, "One of the few."

"How?"

Rudy shook his head, "I don't know. Mr. Zelgadis has taken blood samples from the survivors, and he's having all of the healers keep detailed records on vital signs and what is being administered to patients in the hopes of finding a cure, but so far he hasn't found a pattern."

"Zel's here?" Lina asked.

"Yes, he got here right before this broke out."

"What about the rest of the royal family?"

"The King died. He was so old and weak, the plague didn't waste any time with him. King Philionel was hastily crowned. But we couldn't keep him away from the sick, you know how he was. He quickly became ill himself. He fought it valiantly. He and Prince Christopher died on the same day. We received notice from Princess Gracia when this started that she was on her way home, but so far we've not seen her."

Lina nodded mechanically as Rudy led them through the twisting, deserted corridors. Soon the sounds of people coughing could be discerned, along with the fetid smells of sick, dying people. Rudy opened a set of double doors, and the smell grew unbearably pungent. Lina brought her hand to cover her noise as her eyes widened as she took in what once looked to have been a ballroom. Now it was covered wall to wall with cots filled with the ill citizens of Seyruun.

Some of them were coughing violently, their bodies rising from the cots with each wave. Some cried with the agony of pain and fever. Others lay covered in scabs, too lethargic to move. Few to none had family members by their side. They had either been abandoned or there was no one left to care for them but the dozen or so healers moving methodically from cot to cot, checking vitals, administering herbs, pulling blankets over the bodies of the dead.

Lina felt bile rise in her throat as she started to shake, "What is this?" she asked, her voice low.

"This is where we care for the sick…"

"You want me to leave Gourry here?"

"You can stay with him…"

"Not here!" Lina screamed, a note of hysteria in her voice, "He's saved your kingdom, dammit, he deserves better than this!"

"I know it looks horrible, but he'll get the best care here."

"No! Not here!" she screamed.

"It's okay, Lina." Gourry said weakly, "I just want to lie down."

"It's not okay!" Lina shot back, "You can lie down when we find a proper bed! I'll care for you myself!"

"We can arrange that," A fourth, familiar voice said, "Follow me, Lina."

Lina took a deep, shuddering breath and wiped her eyes. "Zel."

Zel went to Gourry's other side to help support him, and together the three of them set off down the hallway. As they left, Lina marveled at her selfishness. Sure, she wasn't stealing a healer to care for Gourry, but if she left him in the hospital then she could help care for all of the sick. And it looked as if they could use the extra hand.

Still, Lina could not bear the thought of leaving him in that sea of death and decay. Selfish. She was always so selfish! Her wants, her needs, and damn anyone else's. She'd even cast a spell that could have destroyed the world because she couldn't bear to live in it without Gourry.

What if this was karma?

She shuddered at the thought as Zel asked, "When did his symptoms start?"

"Yesterday." Lina replied, noting that her voice didn't sound normal.

"What remedies have you tried?"

Mechanically Lina recited the list of herbs and the forms she had administered them in. Zel smiled tiredly. "Looks like he was well cared for from the beginning."

"Will that help?" Lina asked, only to be crestfallen by his answer.

"It doesn't hurt. I've never seen anything like this. It strikes so fast, it is so lethal. Yet for some reason, it spares only the most powerful of sorcerers." He shook his head.

"How fast?" Lina asked.

"Most people die within three days of symptoms starting. Some hang on longer. Phil managed a week."

Three days. The number echoed ominously in her mind. Three days. And they were nearly through the first one.

"How many survive?" Lina asked, her voice tight.

"Barely one percent." Zel said grimly. "If someone develops a rash, then it's only a matter of time until they die. They have two hours, may be four left at the most. No one who has developed a rash has survived. We don't know why."

Zel indicated a door and opened it, chauffeuring them in as he continued. "It's not natural, Lina. Someone manufactured this."

"What?" Lina said dumbly as they sat Gourry on the bed and helped him remove his armor, "Why would someone manufacture something so horrible?"

"No idea." Zel said, "But whoever did must have been a powerful sorcerer. Hence the immunity. Lighting!" Zel cast before turning his attention to Gourry, "I'm going to examine you."

Lina's heart raced as she watched as Zel asked Gourry to stick his tongue out as she started to frantically hope that they were wrong and it was just a cold. Desperately she hoped that Zel would laugh, smile and say after a few days of rest he would be back on his feet. Yet after a few minutes Zel's expression turned grim, and Lina felt the hope trickle out of her. He smiled wryly and clapped Gourry on the shoulder, "Only you would go to the trouble of getting the plague to see Lina get this worked up over you."

Gourry smiled tiredly as he lay back on the bed and kicked his boots off as Lina asked, "So, it's the plague, there's no doubt?"

"None." He said grimly, "You can tell, he's jaundiced and there's a rash on his tongue."

Lina felt as though she'd been hit with a tsunami of emotions. "I-I have to start the humidifier." She stammered as she reached into her mantle. She started to get her supplies ready as Gourry drifted off to sleep while Zel wrote down some notes. "I ran out of camphor last night."

Zel pulled a case from his cape, "We have plenty here. Then there's some egnaro and nimativ, they're powerful immune system boosters that are hard to find outside of Seyruun."

"Let me guess." Lina said caustically as she took what she needed, "They can't hurt."

Zel stared out of the window, his expression morose, even for him. "I wish there was more I could do. Nothing seems to help. Nothing about this blasted disease makes sense!"

Silence descended upon the room as Lina ground the ingredients in her pestle while Zel continued to stare out of the window, as if hoping for a sudden, game changing inspiration. When Lina walked over to the bed and lifted Gourry's shirt to apply the paste Zel asked, "You're from Zeferia."

"So?"

"Two months ago we heard about the first cases of the plague in Zeferia. It seemed to be contained there. Sylphiel left with a relief delegation. We know she got there safely, but haven't heard anything since a month ago, when it exploded everywhere else."

Lina had not thought it possible to feel any worse than she did. She'd tried not to think about what the plague was doing to her hometown, her family. But learning that it was the place that was first hit made it unavoidable. Were her parents still alive? Neither of them could perform such advanced magic. What about her sister? Certainly the Ceipheid Knight would have protection that other mortals would not. What about her friends?

Lina batted her eyes rapidly as she started to apply the paste, wondering why Zel was telling her this, and why now. She didn't say anything. Talking was suddenly too hard. Unbidden, Zel continued, "That's the other things that doesn't make sense. How it was confined to Zeferia for a month and then exploded everywhere else in the Inner World at the same time. Communication between neighboring kingdoms has been disrupted, naturally, given how lethal this plague has been. But we've had calls asking for relief from kingdoms as far away as Galia and Solaria! It wasn't a slow spread from Zeferia to other, neighboring kingdoms. Just an explosion of plague everywhere at the same time."

Lina grabbed a rag and started to wipe her hands with it. "Is this another reason you think it was manufactured?"

"Yes." Zel said. "Lina, did you ever meet anyone at the guild who was powerful and whose line of research included diseases?"

Lina tried to think of her time at the Sorcerer's Guild in Zeferia, but her mind was drawing a blank. Thinking of everyone she had potentially lost was more than she could tolerate at the moment. "Not anyone who I think would do this. But what about Rezo's gang?"

Zel folded his arms across his chest, "Rezo mentioned someone, never by name. A powerful sorcerer. Not a lot else. I wonder sometimes, but it's not a lot to go on. Whoever it is, though, is genius."

Lina shuddered, "'Genius' isn't the word I would use."

"Lina, we don't even know why some people can perform such powerful feats of magic and others can't, despite all of the research put into it. Whoever created this must have found out and used whatever makes us different from other humans to form a natural immunity. If I could find out what it is I could get a cure, but I've been completely stymied. And considering a lot of the best researchers in Seyruun have succumbed themselves to this plague…"

Lina put her hand to her temple. While usually she and Zel bounced ideas off each other well, at the moment it was far more than she could handle. Her family was likely dead. Her hometown must have been decimated, gone. Seyruun was a shell of its former glory. And Gourry had the plague!

Zel sighed and stood up, "I'll have someone send up some food, as well as some lotion should a rash develop."

"I thought if a rash developed there was nothing left to do." Lina said monotonously.

"The lotion helps with the pain."

Lina closed her eyes tightly as Zel moved towards the door. "Amelia will likely stop by on her break. I'll warn you, this month has taken a lot out of her. She's not herself right now." He was quiet for a moment before adding, "I don't think any of us are."

Zel left, closing the door quietly behind him. Lina sat quietly by Gourry's side for a moment before moving her hand to brush his hair from his eyes before moving to grab his hand. He slept soundly as she studied him. She could see no rash, nor any start of a rash. She squeezed his hand and spoke, "You're not allowed to leave me, Gourry. If you even try I swear I'll follow you and drag your ass back here. Just so we understand, you're not allowed to leave, and I'm not going to let you die."


	2. Chapter 2

The afternoon wore on. At times Gourry coughed miserably in his sleep, other times he rested quietly. Lina could see he was under siege by the common ailments of those running a high fever. Chills and sweats and muscle aches plagued him. She did her best to alleviate them. It was when she was mopping Gourry's forehead with a damp cloth that she heard the sounds of wooden wheels on marble floors. She stiffened as Gourry stirred, wondering what all of the commotion was. "Lina?" Gourry asked as he struggled to get up.

"Shh," she ordered as she gently pushed him back to bed, her thoughts racing. What better way to overrun a strong kingdom then by unleashing a plague and sending troops in? Quietly she got up and walked to the door. Behind her she heard Gourry draw his sword.

Carefully she opened it, but it was not an invading army she found. It was a series of wagons packed to the brim with ill people. Rudy walked ahead of them, directing the drivers to where they needed to go. Lina folded her arms across her chest. "What's this?" Lina asked Rudy as he was about to pass. Instead he stopped to answer her question.

"Every morning volunteers are sent to gather the sick and bring them here. Used to be several hundred a day would be carted in. But now we're only bringing in twenty to fifty a day." He shook his head mournfully. "There's just not a lot left."

Lina nodded numbly, realizing that now would be a good time to offer help. But she wasn't leaving Gourry. Slowly a wagon passed and Lina felt her heart freeze when she realized that it was full of sick children. She started to shake as her eyes latched on to a small boy coughing so violently that he kept rising from his pallet. As he calmed down he looked at her, his eyes that were a piercing shade of blue were watery and filled with pain. Lina leaned back against the wall for support, feeling winded. He looked like he could have been Gourry's long lost brother, or son even.

Gourry had wanted children so much…

"H-how many of the children have survived?" Lina asked, her voice a hoarse whisper.

"None." Rudy replied. Lina closed her eyes, and it occurred to her that not a single child was accompanied by a parent. Were they in another wagon? Were they dead? Or had these children been abandoned? Grimly, Rudy continued, "Even if humanity survives this plague, I don't know how we'll do in the long term with a whole generation dead. The children are just so vulnerable."

Something in his voice caused Lina to look at him. He was crying. "Sorry," he said as he started to wipe his face, "I just…I lost all of mine, all five of them, within a day."

Lina felt sick. "I'm so sorry." She whispered as he shook his head.

"I shouldn't have…I have to go."

Lina stared after him as the wagons thundered past, suddenly feeling as though there was not enough air in the palace. She struggled with the impulse to help the children, even if all she could do was read them some stories before they passed. But there were too many, she told herself. She was one woman, and there had to have been ten children in that wagon, in addition to all of the ones already in the hospital. For all Lina knew there could be hundreds of them! And Gourry needed her. Telling herself that there was little she could do for the ill she returned to her seat beside Gourry's bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she felt his forehead. Still hot.

"I've been better." He said as he put his sword away.

"You didn't actually expect to be able to swing that thing at an invading army, did you?" she said as she started to tuck the blankets in around him.

"I'm just glad it didn't come to that." He regarded her for a moment before saying, "I'll be fine for a bit if you want to go and help."

"I don't." she said, "I'm not leaving your side until you're better. Besides, it's not like there's a lot I can do for them."

He smiled tiredly, "May be you should try casting a Dragon Slave and scare the plague out of them."

She laughed weakly, "Well, Gourry, that may be the first good idea you've ever had."

He started coughing, and when he settled down his voice was weak. "Not the first good idea I've had."

"Oh?" Lina said, trying to keep her voice casual. "So, you actually had another one?"

"Yes."

"_And_ you remember it?"

He started coughing again so forcefully that the bed shook. Lina straightened in alarm, "Here, drink this." She said as she grabbed a drink she had prepared earlier, filled with honey and opium and some of the supplies she had raided from Zel to help suppress a cough.

"Here," she said, helping to prop him up, bringing the glass to his lips.

Slowly between rounds of coughing he was able to finish the drink. She helped him to settle back onto the pillows as he quieted down, and then started to tuck the blankets around him again. As soon as she finished another fit of coughing erupted, causing him to rend the sheets as he struggled to breathe between coughs.

Lina felt her panic rising. "Hang on." She said as she ran to the stone container, figuring she must not have put enough herbs or water into it. But when she opened it she was disheartened to find that it was well stocked with both.

She returned the lid to its proper place and walked back to her chair, her mind racing to find something to do to help drive the cough away. As she sat down he grabbed her hand and held it tightly. She looked at him in shock. "Getting involved when those bandits were about to attack you." He said, his voice scratchy but earnest, "That was the best idea I ever had."

Lina started to shake, wondering why he was suddenly talking like that. Then a wave of coughing so violent started that he began to spasm. Lina's panic boiled as she watched. What could she do? She'd already gone through all of the most powerful medications for a cough. "Hold on, let me try something." She said desperately before going through the few spells she knew that could help.

Only they didn't. She started thinking about the ill in the east wing who were coughing just as violently as Gourry was now. An alarming feeling of helplessness took over her as she wondered if there was nothing that could be done.

Her mind raced as he continued to cough. Had Zel said anything about a cough? He'd said something about a rash, but not a cough. Dammit, why hadn't she asked more question when he was available?

A chill form down her spine as he started to moan miserably between rounds of coughing. Lina had fought beside him for a long time, had watched as he took injuries that would have wiped out most people but continued to fight. She had never known anyone to have the endurance that he had. For this to wear on him so obviously meant that he must have been suffering greatly. Lina put a hand on his shoulder. "Does it hurt?" she asked.

He didn't say anything, but she could see it in his eyes. She squeezed hers shut for a moment, and then quietly cast a sleeping spell. Instantly he was asleep, even as he continued to cough. Lina just hoped he was beyond the pain.

As the hours painstaking passed Lina wondered if it meant he was getting better or worse. Didn't things sometimes get worse before they got better? Might the coughing get something out of his system? Or did it mean the disease was progressing? She scanned him again for any sign of a rash. Nothing.

A woman came with a plate of food for her and some supplies. She did not eat, she simply could not stomach the thought of it. But she instantly started spooning him the soup. He needed to keep his strength up. When it was gone she busied herself with making medicine for when he'd need it.

It was dusk when there was another knock on the door which was then immediately opened by Amelia. "Miss Lina." She said quietly.

Dimly Lina was aware of a presence behind her, but she had other things on her mind. "He's been coughing, violently. I can't get him to stop."

Amelia walked over to the bed and felt Gourry's forehead, "That happens." She said, her tone uncharacteristically flat as the fourth person entered the room as she grabbed his wrist to check his pulse. "We've not found any way to help. It looks like you have him under a sleep spell. That's for the best."

"Well, well," said the fourth voice. Lina felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. "Looks like a runt like you did well for herself, Lina."

Stiffly she turned around to see that the fourth person was not only someone she recognized, but someone she hoped never to run into again. Lina stuttered incomprehensively for a few minutes until Amelia said, "I see you've met my sister, Gracia."

Lina's eyes widened in horror. "S-sister?"

"Surprising, isn't it?" Naga asked, her breath heavy with alcohol.

"Wait a minute, if you're Amelia's sister, then that means…" Lina's voice trailed off as horrible visions of Naga ruling Seyruun overtook her mind.

"That means what?" Naga asked as she took a swig from a bottle.

Lina turned away, "That you're next in line for the throne." She said, spitting it out as though it was venom.

"True, I guess I am queen now."

Lina placed her face in her hands. "Seyruun is doomed."

Naga laughed dismissively, "The kingdom has already been done in by this plague. The only way Seyruun can go is up!"

Lina had more important things to worry about than Naga, so she addressed Amelia. "Is there anything we can do for him?"

Amelia closed her eyes tiredly. "Keep him comfortable."

"No, Amelia, there has to be something more…"

Amelia's hands clenched in the blankets, "Something we haven't tried?" Her voice was low, with a dangerous edge to it that Lina had seldom heard. "We've had thousands of people in our hospital. We've tried every combination of spells and medicines. We've even tried letting it run its course without any intervention. We've tried to stop the fever and we've tried to increase it. Nothing makes a difference! That's the insidiousness of this disease. In the end, all we can do is keep them comfortable until…"

"There has to be something else!" Lina interjected, terrified by where Amelia was going.

Amelia closed her eyes in frustration. "Have you told him you love him?"

A strange squelching sound escaped her throat. "What are you talking about?"

Amelia shook her head as she opened her eyes to glare at Lina. "I've never understood you. After he was kidnapped by Hellmaster you were so distraught. I thought that would have opened your eyes to what the two of you have. But no. You didn't realize anything! Years later, and nothing!"

"You mean to tell me that she's been traveling with him for years without becoming involved?" Naga asked incredulously before she laughed derisively. "You really have no idea how to be sexy, do you?"

Lina blushed as she yelled, "And what would you really know about it anyway? And how is it any of your business? It's between Gourry and myself, so butt out already!"

Amelia reddened, "You always marginalize him! I've seen how it hurts him through the years. If you don't tell him soon, it's going to be too late. So you think about that."

Lina stood up, her face flushed and her eyes fiery, "How the hell is that supposed to help him get better?"

"I hope he gets lucky Miss Lina, I really do." Amelia said as she stood up so she could lock eyes with her, "We've already lost so many good people. But you need to face the reality that he most likely won't. There is no justice with this plague! It's killed children, babies, my father, it doesn't give a damn, it just kills!

"Mr. Gourry's devoted his life to you for years! I've watched the two of you together, and it's so obvious what you feel for him, but every time it comes up you deny it! And I've seen how it hurts him when you do. You need to think about what you'll regret not saying if he doesn't make it. And he deserves to hear it from you before he dies."

"He's not going to die!" Lina screamed, shaking with anger, "Besides, what the hell do my words matter? If my actions are speaking as well as you say they are?"

"You're really going to let him die without hearing it?" Amelia roared, her eyes fiery.

Lina felt as though an explosion had gone off within her brain. "Why do you always stick your nose in this? And what would you really know about romance? You, with your naïve talk of love and justice? You with your bodice ripper romances! Have you even had a real romance? Have you and Zel confessed your undying love in a field of roses and singing angels? Or are you still pining away pathetically for him?"

Amelia went crimson as her eyes flamed and her hands balled into fists. Seeing that she had hit her below the belt, Lina continued, "You have all of these ridiculous little girl naïve fantasies and know nothing about how things really work! Because it's not how it works in real life!"

"Oh, I was naïve!" Amelia said, her voice rising in pitch as Naga took a swig from a bottle, watching the fight intently. "I was so naïve! This plague has woken me up all right, but your eyes are still sewn tight. But maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe you don't care for him as much as I thought you did, if you can't even bring yourself to tell him when he's on his deathbed!"

"He's not!" Lina screeched stupidly, "He can't be! And if you can't help then you get the hell out!"

"Gladly," Amelia said as she stood and strode forcefully out the door and slammed it behind her. Shaking with anger, Lina grabbed a book and threw it after her where it hit with enough force to dent the fine wood paneling.

"Show's over, what are you still doing here?" Lina said caustically to Naga.

"Do you love him?"

"What's it to you?" Lina replied. Silence filled the room awkwardly as Lina put her hands to her suddenly aching head as she realized just how tired she was. When was the last time she had slept? With a start she realized it had not been since Gourry had fallen ill.

"Well, if you don't, he is kinda cute and…"

"Get out or I'll throw you out!" Lina screeched. "And I don't give a damn if you're the queen now and this is your palace! Get out!"

Naga shook her head as she moved towards the door. "You do have it bad."

Once the door was closed and Lina was once again alone with him she slouched forward, her breath coming rapidly as she struggled with the impulse to cry as her tired mind struggled to figure out what had just happened. What had happened to Amelia, Miss Love and Justice? To see her so defeated and resigned to death was chilling.

_What if she's right!?_

Tears spilled from her eyes as she considered the evidence, the sheer amount of people the plague had killed. She leaned back in her chair and debated whether or not to get some sleep, and instantly nixed the idea. She'd sleep when he was better. Or until he passed. With a dawning sense of horror she realized that she wasn't sleeping because she didn't want to waste one minute with him in case he did die.

She found and squeezed Gourry's hand tightly, as if that act alone would keep him with her. Amelia may have given up, but she wasn't going to. Still. She was unable to sleep.

The night passed slowly. Every so often Gourry would be besieged by a coughing fit, but there was little change in his status. Eventually Lina calmed down as she focused her energies on nursing him and reading to him even though he likely could not hear her. A few hours before dawn she noticed that his eyes were open and focused on her. "Hey," she said quietly as she set the book down and checked his forehead.

Still hot and feverish.

"Hey," he replied, his voice hoarse as he started to scratch at his arm.

"Let me get you something to drink." She said as she helped him take a glass of water. "Better?"

"A little." He said, an undercurrent of pain in his voice.

She flailed for something to say. Echoes of her argument with Amelia resonated in her mind. But she could not bring herself to say anything. Eventually he asked, "How long have you been up?"

"Never mind about me." Lina said, "It's you who needs looking after."

"Even so, I'm still your protector." He countered, "I will be, till I die."

Lina shut her eyes, "Let's not talk about that." She snapped, and then she decided to change the topic. "Did I ever tell you about the person I sometimes traveled with before I met you?"

"Even if you did, I can't seem to remember!"

Lina punched him gently on the shoulder. "You are an idiot."

He smiled as he turned towards her, "So, what about this person?"

Lina told him about some of her adventures with Naga as the darkness outside lightened and day started to break. When she realized he was asleep she was disturbed when she realized that she was feeling a sense of regret. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes as a new fear gripped her. What if Amelia was right? What if this was the last time he was conscious? What if she had just wasted it by talking about Naga?

Her eyes snapped open when Gourry's breathing hitched like one hit with a sharp pain. Then her eyes widened in horror as she noticed a series of spots, reddish black, marring his pale skin. The bottom seemed to drop from her stomach as she stood up. "No…" she choked.

He thrashed about in his sleep, as though he was struggling to find a way to get comfortable but couldn't. Swiftly she undid his shirt, her revulsion increasing as she noted that the rash was everywhere. The room seemed to careen as she wondered when it had developed. And how? She had been so diligent!

An anguished cry escaped her as she grabbed the lotion Zel had sent. "No!" she murmured as she dabbed a bit on his chest and started to spread it. "No, Gourry, please, no!"

Tears blurred her vision, obstructing it as she still worked frantically to apply the lotion. Zel had said something about it helping with the pain. She did not want him to be in pain! Thankfully he started to settle down as she applied the thick, foul smelling lotion and his breathing became more steady. Painfully Lina wondered if he would wake up.

Someone knocked at the door, but she was too distressed to say anything. After a few moments it opened, and Amelia called, "Miss Lina?"

Lina was shaking as she continued to apply the lotion. For the first time that she could remember she was beyond caring that she was crying in front of someone else, much less two people. Zel followed her in. Amelia walked beside her and put a hand on her arm as she surveyed the scene. "Y-you don't think he's in pain?" Lina asked in trembling tones.

"He looks like he's resting comfortably." Amelia said quietly, "You've done all you could for him."

Lina shook her head as tears continued to stream from her eyes. "No, I haven't." she whispered, suddenly scared that Amelia was going to ask her if she had told him and take her to task when she learned she hadn't.

But Amelia asked her no questions. She simply hugged her tightly, as if to say she knew what she was going through. "You didn't leave his side once. I heard you yesterday in the east wing, you refused to give up on him. He knows that. This plague, it's just beyond our ability to heal."

Lina sobbed as she clung to her. How conceited was she, to think that if she cared for him well enough he would survive? When Amelia, who had loved her father so much, was not able to see him through the plague alive? Lina started to wonder if she was just so used to winning that she had started to take it for granted.

Amelia patted her back consolingly. "What do you need from me?"

Lina shook her head as she tried to dry her eyes, but then gave it up as a lost cause. More tears kept flowing, "I-I just want to be alone with him."

"Of course." She said as she squeezed Lina's arms as she pulled away and then turned to grab Gourry's hand. "It was an honor to get to know you and fight with you, Mr. Gourry. Don't worry, we'll take care of Miss Lina. Safe journey."

Lina stared as Amelia walked away and waited by the door. Numbly Lina sat down as Zel walked to the bed. She wondered if Gourry could hear their farewells. "I'm sorry, Lina, I wasn't able to find anything that could help him in time."

Lina's head was hurting so much with grief that she couldn't speak. Morbidly she started to wonder when Zel would have his breakthrough. A year later? A month? A week? Tomorrow? What a sick joke that would be if he found it tomorrow.

Zel clasped Gourry on the shoulder, "This plague has claimed so many. I always thought that the first of us to die would perish in battle. Not like this. Peaceful journey."

Anger started to flare within her. He wasn't dead yet! Just because no one who had gotten a rash had survived didn't mean that Gourry couldn't be the first! But when Zel turned to regard her, his expression haunted with the ghosts of the people who had come to the palace seeking help only to die, her anger cooled to despair.

"Is there anything I can get you?" he asked.

Lina didn't trust herself to speak. She shook her head mutely. Zel clasped her on the shoulder and left. Silence filled the room for a moment, and then compelled by a force she did not understand, she grabbed Gourry's hand. "I can't even think of what I'd do without you."

He did not respond, showed no sign that he had heard her. Undaunted Lina continued, "Every day for years. We've been together. Okay, there were times where we weren't, and my life was miserable."

She swiped at her eyes as she laughed bitterly before she continued, the words falling out of her mouth faster than she could properly think through them. "When Hellmaster took you, that was when I first realized how important you had become to me. I missed you so much, but it wasn't until Sylphiel asked me if I still was only traveling with you for the Sword of Light that I realized something that should have been so obvious. I didn't miss the Sword of Light. I hadn't even thought about it till then, a few weeks after you had been kidnapped!

Was it her imagination, or had he nodded a bit? She took a deep breath as she wondered if she would have enough time to say everything. "The morning after you were kidnapped, I made the decision to fight Hellmaster to rescue you, not the stupid sword. When I realized that I couldn't care less what happened to the sword as long as you were safe and back with me, I realized what a stupid excuse the whole traveling with each other for the sword was."

She sat with him quietly for a moment, hoping that he would magically wake up and talk to her. "I lived without you for so long before I met you but after knowing you, I couldn't imagine going back to that life. I still can't. It just seems so lonely now."

She squeezed his hand gently and was surprised to feel him squeezing back. Was she imagining things? Was it a mere reflex? Or something else? A crazy, desperate thought that she could keep him with her if she kept talking formed. So Lina continued, "When we first met, I wanted you to be smitten with love for me. I don't think I ever forgave you when you weren't. Sometimes I wondered if that was why I could never move forward with you, even after realizing what I had found with you after I rescued you, but that wasn't it. It was never something you did. It was me stopping me.

"Even now, even facing this I can't explain it. That's a horrible excuse, isn't it?"

Lina's eyes became heavy as she stewed in her thoughts for a moment. "Traveling with you, I had so much fun. It just can't be over, Gourry."

_Can it?_


	3. Interlude

"Remember that restaurant in Tamelle?" Lina said as she leaned forward so her elbows were resting on the bed. She was so tired, but she couldn't sleep now. There was still so much to say, and she did not know how much time he had left. Yet she could not deny the fact that it was getting harder to keep her eyes open.

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them the room encased in a bright, shimmering light. Lina's heart lurched as she straightened. That she had seen many people die before without seeing such a light didn't perturb her. It seemed natural that for Gourry a glorious light to escort him to the next world would appear. She found his hand and grabbed it as she accepted with an alarming calmness that this was it.

Slowly a shadow rose from his body and stood beside the bed opposite from her. They regarded each other quietly. Lina could not discern his face in that of the shadow, nor any other feature, but she knew he meant her no harm. For a crazy moment she thought she would hear his voice issue forth a final farewell, but he remained silent. A tear trailed down her face as she realized that the moment of parting was upon them.

"Good bye, my friend." She whispered, and then, her heart leaping she amended, "My love."

The light intensified until her vision was filled with it, burning her eyes painfully. It was too bright, too piercingly bright! She closed her eyes, but she still saw bright orange rather than back and shadows of the veins in her eyes appeared. The feeling of being overwhelmed surged and her grip on consciousness faltered. She fell forward, her body crashing over Gourry's as things faded to black.

When she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was a cherry tree in full bloom, its petal raining from the branches. Her exhausted brain struggled to make sense of it as she stared and gradually became aware that her head was resting on Gourry's torso as though he were a pillow. His heart was beating. She sat up and knelt beside the dais he was resting on as she struggled to figure out what was happening. She looked at Gourry, his breathing steady, his complex clear.

Was this a sick joke? A dream? Something cold formed in her stomach as she wondered if she had been pulled into another dimension. It would not have been the first time a Mazoku asked her to join them. But why go to such trouble?

She looked around. It did not look like any place a Mazoku had ever pulled her into. She was in a graveyard populated by cherry trees. The ground below was covered by such a thick blanket of pink petals that she could not see a hint of green. It was too calm and peaceful here to have been created by a Mazoku. And she felt no malevolent presence.

She took a deep breath as she looked at Gourry, satisfied that he was okay at least. That is, if any of this was real.

"You want to save him." A familiar voice stated.

Lina turned to find Martina sitting on a marble stone bench beneath one of the trees looking calmer than Lina could ever remember having seen her. She wore a beautiful and intricate white lace dress and was shading herself with a parasol. Lina felt her heart lurch. "Can I?" she asked.

"You did before." Said another voice, and Lina spun around to see a tall blond woman beside an unmarked grave wielding a shovel. The spade was in the ground, her foot resting on it casually, as if weighing whether or not to start digging. "You willed me into existence to do so."

Lina felt her heart pound in her chest. "What is this place?"

The wind picked up, kicking up a flurry of pink blossoms that overwhelmed Lina's vision for a moment before they settled down. The Lord of Nightmares smiled. "You and Gourry presented quite a challenge for me. You cast quite the spell to save his life and lost yourself in the process. Damned if I was going to intervened further, but then he couldn't let you go."

She sighed as though mildly bored, pulling up on the shovel a bit, "I didn't think a human could be so stubborn. It put me in a nasty position, I interfered so that he may live, but due to his refusal to let you go, it put his existence in jeopardy. Meaning that I would have gotten my hands dirty for no reason!" She shrugged, "So I had to return the both of you from the Sea of Chaos."

She examined her fingernails for a moment, "I will admit to being moved a bit, well, slightly, to how devoted the two of you were to each other."

Lina crossed her arms across her chest. "How can I use that to save him now?"

The Lord of Nightmares expression changed from one of bemusement to anger. "And what have you done with your stolen time since?"

"What is this?" Lina shot back, "A trial? If I give the right answers does he get to live?"

"This place has no transformative power, other than that which you give it." Martina explained.

"Which means what?" Lina asked.

"Do you think your time with Gourry was time well spent?" The Lord of Nightmares asked.

"We saved the world. How could it not be?" Yet with the population so devastated, she couldn't hold back her doubts as to whether or not it meant anything now. "We traveled the world." She continued, feeling as though she was on firmer ground now. No amount of devastation could change the memories they had created together. "We spent every day together. We had fun."

"You nearly drove him from you by your refusal to be anything more than a companion." The Lord of Nightmares snapped.

"I didn't know our 'stolen time' came with stipulations!" Lina struck back.

Martina had gotten up so quietly that Lina hadn't realized she was there until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Lina turned to look at her, surprised at the gentle, accepting look on her face. Lina exhaled, realizing that whoever that woman was, it was not the real Martina.

"You were so young then." Martina said sympathetically as she wrapped an arm around her and led her to the bench. "Most girls your age at the time were finishing school and starting trades or being courted by the neighborhood boys. You were making decisions that impacted the fate of the world."

Lina sat down. "I chose this life. And I handled everything it threw at me!"

"Yes, you did. And it didn't mean it wasn't hard." Martina continued, "It didn't mean you were ready."

Lina wanted to retort, but she felt like crying. She buried her face in her hands and rubbed her temples as Martina continued as she placed a hand on her back. "You had fallen in love, and then a powerful foe kidnapped him, toyed with you, apparently killed your friends in front of you and then manipulated you into casting a spell you didn't want to cast to save Gourry's life."

"Why does everyone keep telling me how I feel about him?" Lina exclaimed.

"Because it's so obvious." The Lord of Nightmares said.

"Describe how you do feel about him then, Lina." Martina prompted.

Lina shook her head, "Could we talk about something else?"

"Always dodging the topic." The Lord of Nightmares said as the shovel sank deeper into the ground and Lina's stomach twisted.

"Do you remember what happened in the Sea of Chaos?" Martina asked.

Lina's shake of the head was stopped as her memories of that brief time in the Sea of Chaos seemed to break through some dam in her memory and erupted into her consciousness. She trembled as she remembered waking in his arms, feeling serene and warm and overcome with joy to see him awake and safe. None of her inhibitions could have stopped the need she had to feel him in her arms, to hold him close, to express how happy she was to see him and to assure herself that he was safe.

It hadn't been enough. She wanted to be closer, more intimate. She had kissed him, slowly and passionately. More, he had responded enthusiastically! He was feeling what she was, but then they had always be so in tune with each other that it was not a surprise to fully realize it.

She had made no further move after kissing him, at least not that she could remember. In fact her memory got fuzzier after that until she had woken up after returning from the Sea of Chaos.

"We kissed." She said, her voice wrapped in awe. "I think we did at least. Was it real?"

Martina and the Lord of Nightmares stared at her mutely. "Is any of this real?" Lina wondered as she stared at the cherry trees.

"You were closer, after you got him back." Martina stated.

Lina nodded, "We were never intimate, I mean, we never kissed again, but yes. We were. Just touching and cuddling."

"What happened?"

From somewhere, Lina heard the sound of a deep, masculine voice chanting, as if reciting a spell she did not recognize. Adding it to the pile of strangeness that was this place, Lina ran a hand through her hair and answered Martina's question. "I messed it up. Lost my temper with him. I always do."

"What did it mean to you when you messed it up?"

Lina shook her head as the Lord of Nightmares seemed to fade away from her consciousness. "I wasn't good enough for him."

Martina said nothing as the blossoms shifted through the wind. Lina watched as they fell to the dais around Gourry as the chanting continued. "Sure, I'm smart. I'm powerful. But what am I? Short, flatchested, and so inexperienced with men! And he's so…so handsome! And so much older than me, and I'm sure he's been with other women and to top it off he can be so sweet and I can just be so mean! I just never understood why he didn't run off with Sylphiel."

"Did you ever ask him?"

Lina shook her head as the chanting ceased. "I was so confused after what happened with Hellmaster, and I didn't have anyone to talk to. Gourry's an idiot. Amelia was so naïve. Zel wouldn't care. Sylphiel was in love with him."

"Stop making excuses." The Lord of Nightmares snapped, reasserting her presence forcefully as the world seemed to zoom in on her. "You could have talked to any of them, you just chose not to. You gave up."

"Giving up would have meant leaving him. I didn't. I wasn't ready then." Lina said. "I was young! I wasn't in a rush to get to the altar."

"There's no need to rush things when you're with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, is there?" Martina asked, her voice ringing with mirth as Lina's heart sped up, thinking about the cruel twist that fate had thrown their way.

"Only there was. He's dead now, isn't he?"

"You couldn't have known it would happen." Martina countered.

"Not by plague. But considering the lives we lead? One of us was bound to die in battle."

"What was it like, after you won him back?" Martina asked.

Lina stared over to where he was resting on the dais. "Nice. He was so gentle and undemanding."

Lina knew she was understating things. When she wasn't hitting him, she was touching him affectionately, and he soaked it up like a sponge and thrived off of it, his blue eyes brimming with happiness that she knew came with being so close to her. Whether it was keeping a shoulder around her or cuddling together under the clouds, he seemed content. He let her set the pace and never pressured her further.

"What changed?" Martina asked.

"The world was in peril. My friends were there." Lina smiled wryly, "Bad combination."

"Your friends wanted you to be with him." The Lord of Nightmares pointed out.

"My friends wanted me to rush things with him!" Lina corrected. "I had a lot to work out."

"Such as?"

Lina grappled with herself for a moment, wondering whether or not to go there. "I was confused. Good things are supposed to come from love, right? But I nearly destroyed the world."

"You didn't."

"I could have."

"It's not like you to have regrets." Martina said.

"How is it so surprising that I felt something so strong for someone that I nearly destroyed the world over it that it would leave me confused?" Lina yelled.

"You destroy things all of the time."

"Either when defending myself, or out of anger." Lina shook her head, "And never because someone else wanted me to do it. I didn't want to cast it, but Hellmaster used my feelings against me. Growing up, I learned never to let others use my feelings against me. Or I thought I had. Hellmaster showed me just how wrong I was."

"You never did anything about it." The Lord of Nightmares stated. "Even when your friends left, you never attempted to move forward again."

"The more they pushed, the more resentful I became." Lina said.

"So you took it out on Gourry." The Lord of Nightmares said.

"I know what I did." Lina said, her voice ragged, "You don't need to rub it in."

The wind picked up, and the smell of the blossoms sweetened the air until the silence was broken by Martina, "What is love?"

Lina shook her head, "How should I know?"

Martina placed a hand on her shoulder, "You cared for him, laughed with him, protected him, saved his life. You stood beside him, nursed him…"

"I smacked him upside the head for every idiot remark he ever made!" Lina snapped.

"And you stopped for a while. You knew it was within your power to control. But then you started again because just your friends were around and gave you a good ribbing." The Lord of Nightmares said as the shovel sank deeper still. "And you never tried again, you just stewed with your feelings for a few years while you continued to torment him."

"If you're telling me he deserved better, I already know that." Lina said, her voice low.

"Honestly, Lina, you need to take him off the high pedestal. He's a good man, but he isn't perfect. He's an idiot, forgetful and he can be tactless." Martina said, "He made fun of your breasts, even knowing that you were sensitive about them. Yet you stayed with him."

Lina was silent for a moment, and then she shifted awkwardly. "He wasn't perfect, I was never expecting that."

"Then what makes you think he was expecting that from you?"

Lina's mouth opened as if stumped. From somewhere she heard the masculine voice talking as though submerged in water. While she was working out her answer, the Lord of Nightmares continued, "You're still young. You could meet someone else. Fall in love again. Settle down with him. Have many children."

"I don't want to." Lina whispered, her voice heavy with conviction.

"With the population so devastated, you'll have no choice. He could be handsome and smart, may be you'll be lucky and even find someone who likes small breasts." The Lord of Nightmares continued. "He could have all of the things you like about Gourry, and none of the faults."

Lina flushed, "It wouldn't be Gourry! I can't have the memories I have with him with anyone else, just look at the adventures we've had together! Fine, he's not perfect, but the person you're describing doesn't exist."

"If you can allow him those faults, then maybe he's fine with yours." The Lord of Nightmares said.

"I still want to be better."

"And you do what you want to do. Which is what?" Martina asked gently.

"Do my wishes really matters?" Lina asked as she rubbed her ears, wishing that the man in the distance would stop talking, "I don't see the real Lord of Nightmares caring, and you are not the real Martina. Do either of you have the power to save him?"

"What does it matter if we do?" Martina asked.

Lina squeezed her eyes together, "I want to know whether or not to get my hopes up. With the way you two are carrying on it sounds like there's a chance I could wake up and find him healthy. If that's not the case…"

"Sometimes our hopes are dashed." The Lord of Nightmares said coldly.

"Is this some trick of my mind?" Lina asked, "Or is this real?"

"What does it matter, if you took something back from it?" Martina asked as she put a hand on her shoulder.

"And who the hell is that talking in the distance?" Lina asked as she pulled away.

Martina and the Lord of Nightmares looked at each other as though she was crazy. "I guess grief does strange things to people." Martina said as the other voice thankfully stopped.

Martina clasped Lina around the shoulders, holding her gently, "When you wake, I want you to be free of regrets, regardless of the state you find him in."

Lina looked over to where Gourry slept on the dais. "I just feel I owe him more than I ever gave him."

"You saved his life."

"And he saved mine."

"And even with your faults, he stayed with you." Martina said, "That must mean he believed you were worth it."

Lina felt her chest grow tight as she stared at Gourry, "So, this is my consolation dream?" Lina said bitterly, "A pep talk to make me feel better about how little progress we made in our relationship now that he's dead?"

"This place has no transformative power, other than that which you give it." Martina repeated.

Frustration rose within Lina as she stood up, her ruby eyes flashing, as she wondered just what the hell that meant. "Whatever, I'm done with answering your questions, I want mine answered! Who are you?"

"If you're going to be that way, then your time here is up." The Lord of Nightmares said as she wretched the shovel from the earth, dislodging a cloud of cherry blossoms as she did. Lina's vision was obscured in a pink haze. From somewhere she heard the man's voice as pink faded from her vision until it was dark.

"It looks like she's waking." He said clearly through the haze clouding Lina's mind. She opened her eyes, but was so dizzy that she saw only swirling wheels of grey. She closed them, inhaling deeply, smelling the putrid smell of the lotion she had slathered over Gourry.

Gourry! Her stomach twisted in knots as she realized she had dozed off. How could she have let herself fall asleep and miss her final moments with him? Unless she had fallen asleep after he left his body? She thought back to the bright light and the shadow over his bed and wondered if it had been real. A tear rolled down her cheek as confusion and fear threatened to overwhelm her.

She had to get her bearings! She was still reeling and fairly certain that the grey field would greet her if she opened her eyes. She took a deep breath, inhaled the lotion and nearly gagged. Was that why she was so discombobulated? Was it something in the lotion?

Then it dawned on her that she was awkwardly slayed between the chair and the bed, her butt planted in the chair, her head resting on his torso, and _his heart beating in her ear!_

Her breathing hitched. Had he merely not passed yet? Or had he miraculously been cured? And then she noticed that her head was slowly bobbing up and down as his chest gently rose and fell. Hope and fear battled within her as she wondered what state she would find him in when she opened her eyes.

Feeling unusually indecisive she remained as she was. If he was still sick then she wanted to cling to this moment of hope, this illusion that he would be okay for just a little bit longer. Then a familiar hand started to stroke her hair, and gooseflesh erupted over her body as she realized that there was only one person who could touch her so warmly.


	4. Chapter 4

"Gourry!" Lina cried as she shot up and felt her heart flutter wildly as she noted his clear skin covered only by a thin sheen of sweat and light breathing. She blinked dumbly, scarcely believing her eyes. Cautiously she moved her shaking hand to his forehead. When her hand touch his head, she was assured that he was real, and that it was cool and damp. His eyes fluttered open and focused on her. "The fever's gone." She breathed, a hint of awe in her voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty." He said.

Lina moved to pour him a glass of water and nearly dropped the pitcher when a new voice said, "Sylphiel told me that you're quite the sorceress. But she didn't mention that you're also a skilled healer."

Startled, Lina spun around and was stunned to realize that not one, but two additional people were in the room. She did not recognize the man with dark hair and darker eyes, but she recognized the woman beside him. Sylphiel. "I'm not." Lina said, her mind struggling to make sense of the situation. Had Sylphiel cure him? "What happened?"

Sylphiel looked at the man, her expression unfathomable as he explained, "We got in. Heard that your companion was on his deathbed. I mean, they say he had the rash."

Lina nodded she remembered the pitcher in her hands and poured Gourry a glass of water and handed it to him, "He did."

The man shook his head, "Never seen anyone survive after the rash appeared. Sylphiel wanted to say good bye of course. We came in expecting the worst, but were stunned to find him healthy and whole. I've heard a bit about you, your reputation. So, what miracle did you wrought this time?"

Lina's eyes narrowed as the realization slowly sank in that Sylphiel had not brought about his remarkable transformation, "You mean he was healthy when you came in?"

Sylphiel nodded as the man continued, "Indeed, that must have been some spell you performed to wipe you out so."

"That was sleep deprivation." Lina said wryly as she struggled to think. Her mind was still cloudy, and though she had woken she felt as though she had not slept at all. The vestiges of the dream, if it was merely a dream, clung so persistently to her mind that she was having a difficult time focusing on the conversation. "He was on death's door when I passed out." She hesitated, wondering if she should say anything about the light she saw, but shook her head instead, "I don't know how…How long have you two been here?"

"Five minutes? Give or take." he said, "Not long."

Lina's mind veered between two paths, one being relief that Gourry would be okay that was so intense that it was hard to think about anything else, the second wondering how he had managed to pull himself away from death's door. Had a third person come into their room at some point? Had Gourry merely beaten the odds? Or had her dream been more than a dream? Did she have some power she did not yet realize? She glanced at Gourry, who looked lost as usual. "So, he's going to be okay?"

"New territory. Never seen anyone develop a rash who survived. But the fever's gone. He'll likely be weak for a few days, fully recover in a week if we go by the ones who recover without developing the rash." He said, "Does that sound right Sylphiel?"

She nodded in agreement, her expression strangely downcast. Something was nagging at Lina's mind, but at the moment she was so disoriented she couldn't figure out what. "Who are you?"

"Daris." He said casually, "One good thing that came out of this plague was happening to meet this lovely lady here. We've been inseparable since we met." He added, putting an arm around Sylphiel's shoulder.

"You have a boyfriend now?" Lina blurted out.

Sylphiel gave one of her shy smiles and nodded. Lina shook her head, unable to shake the feeling that she was missing something that should have been obvious, but not particularly caring to find out what it was. Gourry was going to be okay. Somehow she'd been given another chance with him, and she did not want to mess it up again. She grabbed Gourry's hand and felt him squeeze back.

An awkward silence filled the room, broken when Daris said, "I guess we'll give you some time together."

"Thanks," Lina whispered as she grabbed a cloth to dab at Gourry's forehead, missing the expression that Sylphiel gave her as she left with Daris.

Once the door had closed Gourry gave her a small smile, "Hey."

"Hey." She replied, having a difficult time keeping her voice steady, "How are you feeling?"

"Better. The pain is gone, and I'm not coughing." He smiled, "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Lina said flatly as she stared out the window, noting that it was a few hours past noon. She struggled for a few moments to figure out when she had passed out but gave it up as a lost cause. She had no idea how long she was out, and therefore no way to determine how long Gourry's remarkable turnaround had occurred. "What's the last thing that you remember?"

Gourry thought for a moment, "You telling me some of your stories."

"Hm, I did a lot of that." Lina mused. "Do you remember anything odd? Like a strange dream?"

"I never really remember my dreams." He said with a vague smile that would have been infuriating had he not had a near brush with death.

"You don't remember looking down at your body? Or at me?" Lina continued.

"Should I?"

Lina shook her head, scared to press any further. "What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said with a sigh. What did it really matter anyway? "You're okay." She said, turning to face him, "That's what matters."

She moved forward, drawing him into a tight embrace as she shut her eyes, focusing on the feeling of him, warm and alive, in her arms. He was still for a moment as if caught off guard, then he gently returned the embrace. She breathed shallowly to avoid inhaling the putrid stink of the lotion, but it was not enough to drive her away from him.

"I love you." She whispered, "I'm sorry it took me so long, I just…Just don't leave me."

He pulled away to look her in the eyes, taking a moment to stroke her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere." He said, "I love you, too."

Before she could say anything else he had pressed his lips against hers. She parted them slightly, squeezing him a bit tighter, letting him know that it was okay to deepen the kiss. He wasted no time in accepting her invitation, even as he kept his explorations slow and gentle. The sound of the wagon wheels on the marble floor reverberated through their room.

Lina's stomach sank as she pulled away, the roaring sound reverberating through the hallway hitting her like a smack as it reminded her of all she had nearly lost. The memory of the fear that had hung to her for the past few days rose distastefully within her, along with the knowledge that while she was basking in relief that Gourry would be okay, somewhere else someone else was mourning someone who meant to them what Gourry did to her. Suddenly she remembered the little boy she had seen in the wagon the previous day and morbidly she wondered if he was still even alive.

She put a hand on his knee, hoping that it seemed steadier to him than it did to her, "You need a bath." She said shakily, not wanting to bother him with all she was feeling while he was still recovering. "I'll draw you one."

"Lina…"

"Be back in a minute." She said as she rushed into the bathroom and shut the door and took a deep, steadying breath before moving to the tub.

With trembling hands she turned on the water. The pipes roared to life as the water hit the bottom of the bath, providing the perfect cover Lina needed as she sank beside it and buried her face in her hands and allowed the sounds of the rapidly filling tub to drown those of her tears.

Somehow the world seemed both right and wrong at the same time. The human population had been decimated, but Gourry would be okay. Many more people would still die, but Gourry would be okay. Her entire family may have been wiped out…

Her family! Her eyes widened in horror as she realized that Sylphiel had been to Zeferia _and she had not asked her for any word of them!_ Lina grew appalled with herself as she wondered how she could have forgotten, how her world could have narrowed so much that all that mattered was whether or not Gourry would live.

Lina shut her eyes tightly. "I can't do anything for them." She gritted, "Not here."

It was a distasteful, but it was the truth. It would take at least a week to make it home to Zefiel City, and that was only with some intense traveling. If anyone she knew was still alive there was nothing she could do here for them to help. And if they were all dead then there was even less she could do. Still, the anxiety of not knowing was crippling, and the knowledge that she allowed the first opportunity to alleviate it slip through her fingers crushing.

Even after that dream, she was still so self-absorbed, so selfish…

She wondered about the dream, if it was a dream. Was it a warning of what she stood to lose if she didn't start to appreciate the people in her life more? (And why had it taken something so catastrophic to even wake her up to that in the first place?) Regardless, she could not deny that she had been given another chance with Gourry. She thought back to the Lord of Nightmares in her dream, asking what she had done with her 'stolen time' with Gourry after her first chance, and felt something cold run down her spine.

It had to have been a warning. Lina had no idea who, but someone was giving her a giant wake up call.

The panicky feeling boiled within her, a feeling that if she didn't treat him better, if she didn't move forward, he would be taken from her again. She clenched her hands into fists and struggled to calm herself down, vowing that she would do what it took to treat him better, to move forward, to be the woman he deserved. Hadn't she already started the process, she wondered. She'd finally told him that she loved him.

The thought helped to calm her. She was already moving forward, making changes. She needed to keep on in that direction. And she could do it, she was Lina Inverse! And, once he was better, she could see what she could do for her family back home. And somehow, she would help see the human race through this catastrophe. This new challenge was a far cry from the Mazokus she usually battled with, but she was certain she could help.

She stood up and found the tub was full. She shut off the water and was about to go to the sink to wash her face when the door opened and Gourry slowly walked in. "Dammit, Gourry!" she yelled as she moved to help him, "You shouldn't be walking about on your own yet!"

"I'm fine, Lina." He insisted, even though he was shaking with the effort of standing, "Are you?"

"You gave me a hell of a scare, but I'll be fine." She said as she helped steady him and got him to the tub. "And the last thing we need is you getting out and about too soon and making yourself even sicker!"

"I guess." He conceded as, with his typical disregard for modesty, he took his shirt off, quickly followed by his pants. Quietly Lina saw that he got into the tub without falling and splitting his head open, and then she leaned back against the sink.

Gourry grabbed some soap and then grinned at her, "I think I've got this. Unless you want to rub my back."

Lina reddened slightly, yet patted him on the arm gently, "I'd better go and change the sheets. But may be later in the week, when you're feeling stronger, we can take a bath together."

Gourry's grip of the soap tightened, causing it to slip from his hands and fly through the air. "Really?"

Lina smiled deviously and bent down to whisper in his ear, "What do you think?" she shot back, as she wrapped her arm around to his shoulder, and then brought it back, her fingers trailing his chest teasingly before she pulled away and walked over to the linen closet to grab some fresh sheets. Before he could respond she add, taking a more serious tone, "Don't you dare try to step out of the bath without calling me."

Leaving the door open, she walked back into the room and stripped the bed of the sheets. No sooner had she gathered them than did the door to the room open with a bang, and Zel rushed in, his eyes wide. "Is it true?" he asked.

"Huh?" Lina replied stupidly.

"I just heard, he's alive!?"

Lina nodded, grinning, as she started to put the fresh sheets on, "He's taking a bath."

Zel grasped the door handle, "How did you pull that off?" he asked.

Lina shook her head, "I didn't do anything."

"But, what happened? I mean, did the rash fade away, or…" he stuttered.

"I don't know." Lina said, "I passed out. When I woke up, the rash and fever were gone."

"Did you give him anything you haven't already told me about?" Zel persisted, "Lina, anything, you can think of, anything you might have done?"

Lina's eyes widened as the larger importance of Gourry's remarkable recovery started to sink in. "Nothing that I haven't already told you about." She said contemplatively.

"What do you remember before you passed out?"

Lina froze. "I don't think that has anything to do with it."

"Lina, please, anything." Zel pushed.

Lina bit her lip, "I know this sounds strange, but the room became encased in light. And I saw a shadow rise over him." She smiled wryly, "I thought it was his soul leaving his body, you know, saying good bye. But it couldn't have been, because he's here, you know?"

Zel shook his head and let out a sigh, "How much sleep had you had?" he asked.

Lina nodded, feeling a pang of incongruence as she downplayed the significance of what she had seen, "Exactly."

"When he gets out I'll draw some blood. Hopefully that will point towards something helpful. Granted, it's not as though there's a lot of people left who can benefit from it." Zel said as he sat down in the chair, looking more haggard then Lina could even remember having seen him. "Amelia's finished getting the ten who came in today through triage. Then there'll be a meeting with Sylphiel and Daris to find out what happened in Zefilia."

Someone knocked at the door. Lina opened it and saw a young woman carrying a tray laden with food. Her stomach grumbled as she smiled, "Perfect! I've not eaten since Gourry took ill."

She grabbed the tray, "Wait a minute, I've got laundry and some trash."

"Yes, ma'am." The woman said as Lina set the tray beside the bed and grabbed a sandwich and started to eat it as she grabbed the sheets and the empty container for the lotion and other herbs and gave them to the young woman.

Just as she was shutting the door Gourry called, "Hello, Zel!"

Lina turned around to find Gourry standing in the doorway to the bathroom, clad in a pair of pajama pants. "I told you not to try to get out without getting help!" she said as she swiftly walked to him and helped him back to bed.

"I keep telling you, I'm fine." He said as he got back into bed and noticed the tray by the bed, "Good, food!"

Zel smiled, "It's good to see you have your appetite back. It's just good to see you up and about. We didn't think you were going to make it."

"Lina said something like that." He commented through bites of sandwich. "Was I really that sick?"

"Yes." Lina and Zel said together as Lina grabbed another sandwich.

"Speaking of." Zel continue, "Gourry, do you mind if I draw some blood? It may help find a cure."

The swordsman shook his head as he extended his left arm while he held a sandwich with the right. Zel grabbed a box of supplies and pulled out a syringe and a few vials. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he tightened a band around Gourry's arm and started to check for a vein.

"Fine," he said between bites of sandwich. "A little tired I guess."

"That's to be expected. You should be back to your old energy level by the end of the week." Zel said as he grabbed the syringe and plunged it into a promising vein. Soon the vial was filled with blood. "Lina is right, you know. You should stay in bed as much as possible until tomorrow, and then take it slowly. Try not to do too much."

"I don't think she'll let me!" Gourry said.

"Damn straight!" Lina chimed in. "There's not a chance that he can relapse, is there?"

"Small." Zel said as he started to put the supplies up, "I wouldn't worry about it. As long as he rests, he should be fine."

Lina bit her lip as Zel stood up, "I'm about to leave to go to the meeting with Sylphiel. Are you wanting to come?"

Lina felt torn. She looked at Gourry, nervous about leaving him alone. "Go on, Lina." He said, "I'll just finish up lunch and take a nap."

Lina thought for a moment, and then nodded. Now that he was out of the woods and not going to pass away at any minute there was no reason to watch over him incessantly. It was still hard to not feel nervous over leaving him.

She told herself she was being silly and stood up, suddenly realizing that now would be a good time to show some action behind her resolve to treat him better. The only problem was that Zel was there and watching. She chuckled to herself, suddenly realizing how silly she was being. Just that morning she was crying torrents over grief for him. Everyone knew how she felt. What was a little peck on the forehead going to hurt?

She brushed his bangs back and planted a kiss there, "Get some good rest." She said as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it for a moment before letting him go.

Lina walked away feeling calmer, and thankful that Zel was staying quiet and not saying anything.

* * *

Amelia caught up to them as they approached her chambers, her excitement showing through the general weariness of her features, "Sorry I couldn't stop by earlier, we heard right when the new patients came in and I couldn't get away, but he is okay?"

Lina nodded, "I don't know how, but the idiot managed to pull through."

Amelia squeezed her arm as they walked into her office, "I'm so glad."

Sylphiel and Daris were already seated on a loveseat when they entered. "My sister is indisposed at the moment. My apologies, I will relay the necessary information to her." Amelia said as she took a seat at her desk.

Lina suppressed a snort as she sank into a plushy couch. Naga was most likely passed out drunk somewhere. "We're glad you're back safely, Miss Sylphiel," Amelia continued, "And I'm concerned, you left with a delegation of one hundred people, and yet you were the only one who returned. I gather most succumbed to the plague, but there were a few who had a high magical capacity."

Sylphiel looked at Daris, who said, "Sylphiel was the only survivor."

Lina, Zel and Amelia exchanged a look. "What happened?" Amelia asked.

Something clicked within Lina's brain. Sylphiel had not said one word since she'd seen her! "The relief party was attacked by the Cult of Shabranigdo." Daris explained.

Silence fell upon the room. "What?" Lina finally managed to stutter.

"Let me go back to the beginning." Daris said, "I was a guard at Trebor. A few months back people started falling ill. Me and my family were largely immune it seems. My grandparents were powerful sorcerers but me and my siblings were never that interested in it and stuck with swordplay. It looks like we could have had the potential if we'd gone in that direction, though. Soon the only people left alive in Trebor were my siblings, a hand full of cousins and my parents. We decided to make it to Zefiel City to see what assistance we could offer."

Lina sat up straighter as he continued, "Along the way we found that all of Zeferia was hit pretty bad. We hit ghost town after ghost town. Finally we got to Zefiel City and found it under the control of the Cult of Shabranigdo."

"But the Ceiphied Knight," Lina interjected, "She'd never let that happen…"

"The Ceiphied Knight is dead." Daris said.

Lina felt the blood drain from her face, "That's impossible, you have no idea what power she wields, she…"

"She was reportedly one of the first to succumb to the plague." Daris said.

"But…"Lina stammered stupidly as she leapt to her feet, "But she's more powerful than anyone in this room."

Daris looked at her, but did not offer an explanation. Quietly Amelia asked, "Miss Lina, did you know her?"

Lina took a deep breath and nodded, "She's my sister."

Lina felt the eyes of everyone else in the room on her and she struggled to figure out what she was feeling. Awkwardly she folded her arms across her chest. "My parents?" she asked, her voice flat, "Did you hear anything about them?"

"I heard rumors that her whole family was wiped out. Well, with the exception of you, I guess. Sylphiel?" he asked as he put his hand over hers.

Sylphiel nodded curtly in agreement. A tense silence filled the room, broken when Lina asked, "Did this cult create the plague?"

"Yes," Daris said, "But I don't think they knew it was going to spread so quickly. They meant to target Zefiel City for some reason but underestimated how contagious it was. Then it was too late."

"But why?" Zel asked, "Why create this in the first place?"

"They believe that it is inevitable that Shabranigdo will come back to power. And as mere humans, they believe their best chances of obtaining prosperity under his regime lies in allying with him and helping him."

"But how will destroying humanity in a plague do so?" Lina yelled as she took a few steps towards Daris, her voice accusing and hostile as Sylphiel seemed to grow even paler. "And don't they realize that Shabranigdo doesn't want to rule the world, he wants to destroy it?"

"How should I know what twisted logic they're thinking with?" Daris retorted, annoyance lacing his words, "I'm just the messenger."

Amelia got up and moved behind Lina, putting a hand on her shoulder. Lina glared at the ground. Daris looked at Sylphiel forlornly. "She knows, of course. But they made it so she can't tell us."

"Huh?" Amelia asked as Sylphiel's lips tensed.

"They cast a spell or something on her. She can't talk. If she tries to write something down its gibberish. I'm constantly playing a game of twenty questions with her to get any information, she can only shake or nod. If I ask anything too closely related to whatever it is the cult is hiding, though, she gets very sleepy. Hell, she's fallen asleep standing on the road more times than I can count!"

Sylphiel locked eyes with Lina as she leaned forward. The knowledge that Sylphiel was wanting to tell her something of vital importance but unable to made Lina squirm. "From what I've been able to learn from her," Daris continued, putting an arm around Sylphiel and drawing him close to her, "Is that the relief party was attacked by the cult shortly after arriving in Zefiel City, and she was taken prisoner. The others in the party were killed, well, that's if the plague hadn't already done them in."

"How did I not notice before?" Amelia mused as she considered Sylphiel, "Most curses change a person's aura slightly. Most people wouldn't notice, but as a trained priestess I can sense these things. I see now that she is under some curse, but it's not like anything I've ever seen before."

"But then again, neither is this plague." Zel said.

"They must have some top researchers in that group." Lina said caustically. "So, Amelia, any way of breaking that curse?"

"Let me see," Amelia said, before attempting a few different spells with no success. Finally after her seventeenth failed attempted she said, "I'm sorry, Miss Sylphiel. I guess it's going to take some time for me to study and break it."

Sylphiel smiled in understanding. Zel folded his arms across his chest, "So, I guess that means we're going to have to set out for Zefiel City to get some answers. Somehow, I doubt if we leave them alone, they'll leave us alone."

"You've got a point." Lina said, "Give us till the end of the week to make sure Gourry is recovered, and we can come, too."

"I'll probably come as well." Amelia chimed in quietly, "With less people coming in there's less for me to do here."

"Are you sure?" Lina said, "I'd hate to see what damage Naga will rain in the time you're away."

Amelia smiled tiredly, "I sent Rudy out to rid the land of alcohol. It should help."

"If that's all," Daris said as he stood up, "It's been a long journey, and we'd like to get some rest."

"Of course," Amelia said, "We'll meet tomorrow and go over plans in more detail."

Daris started to move towards the door and, noting that Sylphiel was not following, held out his hand. She looked again at Lina, who had buried her face in her hands and was massaging her temples, before getting up and taking it. "Strange." Amelia commented as they left. "She's with him, but I don't think she's in love with him."

"What makes you say that?" Zel asked.

"She doesn't have the glow." Amelia said.

"The 'glow?'" Lina asked dubiously. "Could it be because the circumstances are so dire it's hard to glow right now?"

"Oh," Amelia chirped. "Right, I guess. Though…"

Her voice trailed off for a moment. "Though what?" Lina asked.

Amelia straightened her shoulders as she avoided Zel's eye, "Though even if she isn't in love, I guess no one wants to sleep alone right now."

* * *

Lina stood quietly outside the door, her fingers on the handle, her heart beating fast. She was terrified that when she opened it she would find that the fever had returned, or that they had been mistaken somehow and he had died. When she finally worked up the courage to open it he stirred in his sleep. She let go of the breath she was holding as she walked over and felt his cool forehead, "Go back to sleep." She said, noting that his eyes were open and watching her.

"What's going on?" he asked as she started to remove her amulets, gloves and jewelry.

"Nevermind that." She said as she placed them on the table, and unbuckled her sword belt, "If I explain it to you tonight I'll just have to go over it again in the morning. Get some sleep."

He continued to watch her as she sat in the chair and started to remove her boots. "What about you?" he asked.

She was exhausted and her head was heavy with grief. She didn't want to think anymore, she just wanted to sleep and still her thoughts. And she was terrified of waking up and finding that, after learning of her family's demise, he would be gone too. She took a breath and unbuttoned her shirt and then let it drape over the chair. "Can I stay here tonight?" she asked quietly, standing in her yellow undershirt and leggings.

"You have to ask?" he said as he drew back the covers and patted the spot beside him, "Come here."

She wasted no time in lying on the bed and snuggling as close to him as possible. He gently folded his arms around her and kissed the crown of her head, now cushioned by his chest so she could be reassured by the sound of his heart beat as it lulled her into a dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Gourry's cry of fear pierced Lina's consciousness, pulling her from sleep as he tossed and turned beside her. Lina grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him firmly, "Wake up!" she commanded.

She had to shake him a few more times, but eventually his blue eyes opened and focused on her. He took a deep breath and then pulled her close. Lina could hear his heart racing as he worked to steady his breathing. Cautiously she raised a hand to his forehead. It was damp with sweat but cool. As she started to relax he breathed, "I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"I never meant to hurt you, I don't know what…"

"What are you talking about?" Lina cut in, trying to keep her voice playful, "You had a bad dream. You didn't hurt me!"

"It seemed like more than that." He said as he rested his forehead on her shoulder, "Like a memory."

She rubbed his back reassuringly, "It was just a dream."

"I had the Sword of Light." He continued, "I was doing things with it I didn't know where possible. And I was trying to kill you with it. I nearly did!"

Lina felt a chill go through her spine. His dream was starting to sound like a memory. A memory he shouldn't have! "It was just a stupid dream." She said firmly as she pulled back. "Look at me. I'm fine! And the Sword of Light is gone, it's been gone for a long time!"

He cupped her face in his hand, gently tracing her cheekbone. "I just, I've always wanted to keep you safe. Why would I fight with you?"

"You didn't!" Lina insisted, struggling to keep her anger in check as her hands clenched the sheets. The last thing she wanted to do was to start swinging a mere day after resolving to treat him better. But what he was saying was scaring her. "It was just a dream, get it?"

"It just seemed so real."

"It wasn't." Lina lied, moving closer to him. Used to be she would hit him and change the topic. Now she needed to find another way to distract him, and while she had an idea, the matter of putting it into action was making her nervous. "This is."

She kissed him gently, her nerves fluttering in her stomach. They started to ignite into passion as he returned her affection, pulling her even closer as he started to run his hands down her back. Excitement flared within her as she realized the power of this new means she had found of diverting his attention from things she did not want to talk about, a new means that was also a lot more fun than smacking him upside the head.

He continued to pull her forward until she was sitting in his lap, her legs wrapped around him as he deepened the kiss, the restraint he had kept himself under for years forgotten as his hands moved up again, skimming her sides and cupping the barest feel of her breast. She broke away and leaned her forehead against his, "See? I'm fine. I know you love me. And I love you."

He quickly gave her a peck on the lips, "You've changed so much, and so fast. Just last week I think you would have kicked me into the next kingdom if I'd tried this."

"I nearly lost you again. I hate that it took so much to get me to get my priorities straight…"

He covered his mouth with hers to cut her off, saying when he pulled away, "What matters is that we got here."

They started to kiss again as her hands trailed down his bare spine, while he kept his at her shoulders, where they trembled restlessly, as though he wanted to move them lower but had lost his daring. Lina grinned as her own sense of daring asserted itself and she grabbed his hands and placed them on her breasts.

"Lina!" he gasped, as a pleasure so intense erupted within her that all thought was driven from her mind other than she wanted to feel more!

"It's okay." She said, caressing his hands as his fingers uncertainly flexed around her mounds, "Don't hold back anymore."

He made a strangled moan of desire that she found way too titillating as he started to feel her up through the thin fabric of her shirt, elucidating mewling sounds from her as he continued to kiss her. It didn't take long for the existence the fabric separating them to annoy her, and she started to help him peel the leotard top off.

The moment she was free someone knocked. "Dammit!" Lina spat as she covered herself with her arms, resolving to beat the hell out of whoever was at the door. "Come in and I'll fireball you! Who is it anyway?"

"Daris and Sylphiel." Said the masculine voice from behind the door as Lina turned white. "We brought breakfast."

Before she had time to think through her actions, Lina had pulled her top back on. "Give us a minute." Gourry clutched his forehead in annoyance as she rolled off of him, but pulled the covers up so that his arousal was covered. Already Lina was regretting that she hadn't told them to scat the moment she'd learned who was on the other side of the door.

But still. Gourry was recovering and needed nourishment. And she was wondering if it was a good idea for him to get so excitedly after such a near brush with death. And worse, even though Sylphiel was with someone else now, she didn't exactly want to flaunt what she had just been doing with Gourry under her nose. It suddenly occurred to Lina that she likely wasn't hiding anything by going this route either.

She stole a quick glance at the mirror, and not for the first time cursed the skin that was easily prone to blush. She took a few deeps breath to calm her racing heart and opened the door. Sylphiel was holding some drinks, her eyes downcast, while Daris was holding a tray laden with food, smirking bemusedly as if to say he knew exactly what they were doing. Lina decided that if it were not for the fact that he was carrying food, she would have hated him completely.

"Morning!" Lina said, her voice awkwardly high as she moved to let them in.

"Did we catch you at a bad time?" Daris asked. Lina did not like the slimy tone to his voice, "We could leave, come back in fifteen minutes?"

Lina wondered how red it was possible to get. As she stuttered as he added, "Or do you need twenty?"

His gaze lowered and Lina felt herself go crimson as she realized he was staring at her breasts, and worse, that her nipples were standing erect, straining against her top. "Hold it!" she yelled as she folded her arms across her chest, "Gourry had a funny dream and was having a hard time getting sorted."

Sylphiel put a hand on Daris' arm. He shrugged, "If you say so, anyway, this is the last time breakfast is being sent up. By tomorrow he should be strong enough to come down to the west wing and eat in the dining hall with the rest of us."

"Thanks." Lina said sardonically as she grabbed the tray and set it by Gourry's bedside, fuming as she grabbed her tunic from the chair and swiftly buttoned it up.

Sylphiel followed with the drinks, handing one to Gourry. As Lina grabbed some bacon she started to wonder what Sylphiel was doing with such a jerk. "So, I should be out and about tomorrow?" Gourry asked hopefully.

Sylphiel nodded as he grabbed the pancake that Lina had wanted. She mumbled to herself, but resisted the urge to start the usual food fight. "Good, because I'm getting tired of staying in bed all day!" he said.

"You'll do it until tomorrow." Lina said, "The last thing we need is you getting up and about too soon and getting sick again."

"Says the one who already has down a good job of getting him up." Daris said.

Lina chanted a light spell and let the power form in her hands, "Do you really want to give me a reason to use this?"

"It's just a light spell." He said.

Lina scowled, "I thought you weren't a sorcerer."

"What idiot doesn't know what a light spell is?" he replied.

Her bluff called, she released the spell with as much dignity as she could muster, "You'd be surprised. Anyway, Sylphiel, I was wondering if you happened to know the name of the Mazoku the curse drew power from."

Sylphiel shook her head. "Curse?" Gourry asked.

"She's been cursed so she can't talk or tell us anything she knows about the people who created this plague."

"You mean someone created this?" Gourry yelled.

Lina nodded bitterly. "How about you, Daris? Do you know who the curse is drawing power from?"

"'fraid not. We rescued her after she was cursed."

"Hey Lina," Gourry interjected, "What do you mean who is the curse drawing power from?"

"Well, it's like when I cast an offensive spell." Lina explained, "The power is drawn from a Mazoku. Like I draw power from Shabranigdo when I cast a Dragon Slave. A curse also draws power from a Mazoku, and if we can figure out which one then we can help Amelia lift the curse and Sylphiel can tell us what the cult is planning."

"Well, wouldn't you know all about which curses do what?" Gourry asked between bites of food.

Lina slumped forward a little, "Curses aren't exactly my area of expertise."

"But Lina, isn't it obvious?" he said so cluelessly that Lina started to grit her teeth and count to ten in anticipation of whatever bone headed thing he was going to say. "A spell that stops her from talking about what the cult is doing has to draw power from Xellos. Who else is so good at keeping secrets?"

Lina felt her jaw go slack as she realized that there was a certain logic to what he was saying. "When you say it like that…"

She reached an arm out to grab her drink, catching Daris's eye briefly, noting the anger shining in them. Lina smiled, "Don't worry! Amelia and I should be able to crack this easily and get her talking and spilling all their secrets in no time!"

"Good." Daris said, clasping Sylphiel's shoulders. Sylphiel's eyes turned downcast.

"Cheer up, Sylphiel." Gourry said, "You know Lina. She'll pull through."

Sylphiel looked up and gazed at him with such hope that Lina felt her stomach twist as she wondered if Amelia was right, if she wasn't in love with Daris. And if she was still in love with Gourry. But it that was the case, why would she be with Daris in the first place?

"Anyway," Daris said, putting a hand on Sylphiel's shoulder. Was it her imagination, or did her eyes seem to dim when he did so? "We'd best leave you two to it."

Lina flushed all over again to which Daris chuckled, "Breakfast I mean."

As soon as he closed the door Lina exclaimed, "What an ass!"

"Yeah, I'm surprised to see Sylphiel with him." Gourry said.

Lina squirmed awkwardly as she grabbed another piece of bacon. "What is it?" Gourry asked.

"How come you never got together with her? I mean, she was crazy about you. I…I think she still is."

"I don't know. I just never felt that way about her." He said.

"But why?" Lina persisted.

"Does it matter?" he asked.

"She just seems your type. I mean, she'd be a good wife and mother. And with the human race decimated like this…"

He stared at her for a moment before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close, "I don't love her. And you have always done whatever it is you set your mind to. And it's one reason I love you."

"One reason?" she asked, a smile playing at her lips.

"I have a list. I add to it from time to time."

She put a hand on his knee and squeezed it, but the passion that had ignited when they woke had dissipated. Daris and Sylphiels' arrival had brought the reminder of the horror facing the rest of the world back into their sanctuary. They sat quietly for a moment before Gourry asked, "So, what's been happening?"

Lina filled him in, telling him about the Cult of Shabranigdo and the plan to go to her hometown. Somehow she could not bring herself to tell him that there were reports that her family was dead. She decided she wasn't going to fully believe it until she saw it for herself. She had just finished when someone knocked on the door. "Come in." Lina called.

Amelia walked in, her eyes brightening slightly when she noticed how cozy her friends seemed with each other. "Morning. Wow, it is incredible to see you healthy again, Mr. Gourry."

"Has Zel found anything that can help?" Lina asked.

"He's still performing his tests."

"Okay. Well, I guess I'd better find a way to make myself useful." Lina said as she reluctantly got out of bed. Gourry's hand grabbed hers and squeezed it gently, steeling her for the day ahead. She bent down to kiss him quickly and then walked over to leave with Amelia, wondering just how much teasing she was going to have to endure from the princess.

"Good to see you back again, Mr. Gourry." She said, her voice overflowing with cheer.

As soon as they were in the hallway with the door closed, Lina opened her mouth to speak before Amelia could start grilling her for details, "Are nightmares common among people who recover from the plague?"

"Nightmares?" Amelia replied, obviously caught off guard. "No. I mean, everyone has them but I don't think they're any more common when people recover from it."

"I think Gourry was dreaming about the time he was held hostage by Phibrizo." Lina said. "He dreamt about fighting me. I never told him about it, did you?"

"No," Amelia said, "May be the fever did something to his memory."

Lina was quiet. She did not want to talk about the dream she had when she thought Gourry was dying. It was too strange and too personal. Yet she was also having memories of that time that she hadn't had before, and she hadn't been stricken with the plague.

"What is it?" Amelia asked.

"Nothing." Lina said, "Just nerves. I guess I'll be helping with the patients today."

"Yes," Amelia said as they approached the former ballroom and the smells of the sick and dying started to become more pungent. "You took care of Mr. Gourry so well, so I'll give you a crash course in what to do and set you on your own."

Lina nodded, her stomach in knots as Amelia opened the door. Lina felt as though she had been punched in the gut when the first thing she noticed was that the amount of people within had been cut in half from when she had first arrived in there. "Amelia," she hissed, "All dead?"

Amelia nodded solemnly as she grabbed a basket of medicine by the door and handed it to Lina, "At first more were coming in than we could keep up with. Now, more are dying than coming in. Mr. Gourry was the only survivor yesterday."

Lina felt herself start to shake with anger towards the faceless members of the Cult of Shabranigdo who had released such a horror upon the world. "Come on." Amelia said, heading towards a healer. "Your shift is up Miss Rosie."

"Thank you, Princess Amelia. I just finished giving him his medicine, here." She said, showing Amelia a chart before she left.

Amelia showed Lina how to read the charts and check for vitals, and gave the instructions to pull a blanket over the bodies of the dead so that the undertakers could ferry them away and to put their records in a bin at the front of the ballroom for Zel. Lina did not want to ask where they were being buried. She had a bad feeling it involved a mass grave.

The first man she came upon was dead. She closed her eyes briefly in observance of the memory of someone she never knew, and picked up the paper records by his bed. His name was Greg. She pulled the blanket over his head, wondering if the sick feeling in her stomach would abate with time or not, and put the records where Amelia had indicated and moved on to the second patient. She was also dead. Her name had been Matilda. As she came upon the third one she realized first by the small size that it was a child and, judging by the amount of thrashing, he was alive.

When she got to his bedside she realized with a jolt that it was the boy she had seen come in the other day. She stole a glance at his vitals, "Morning, Tommy." She said, trying to be as upbeat as possible as she noted the rash and the last time he had been given a coughing draught. "Can you hear me?"

He gave no indication that he could as he continued to thrash around the cot as Lina got out the lotion and started to apply it, relief sweeping through her as he calmed down. As Lina finished she grabbed a rag to wipe her hands and felt his hand on her arm. She looked at him and saw that his eyes were open and staring at her pleadingly. "I won't go." She said as he relaxed, "My name is Lina. And I've got some great stories to tell if you want to hear them."

He smiled weakly as he lay back on the pillow. "Rest up, listen well, and beat this thing for me, all right?" she said before she started, settling on a story about two gods who became human for a day and walked among the villages to see how they would be received. As she narrated he fell asleep, his hand on her arm. Gradually as she started and finished other stories the weight of the hand on her arm weakened until it went slack and limp. With a start Lina realized he was gone.

Tears started to mar the white sheets as her heart lurched. She wiped her eyes and pulled the blanket over him, fighting the urge to flee. But she was here to help. She was here to be less selfish, and she needed to stay here and help, even if it hurt like hell.

Mechanically she grabbed his records as she held back massive sobs and put them in the bin, which was now overflowing with them. She wondered how Zel would ever be able to shift through all of them to find any sort of pattern. She stared back at Tommy's body, and suddenly felt a desire she had never felt before well within her.

She dabbed at her eyes, took a few deep breaths to get her bearings, and moved on to the next patient. She was a woman, middle aged, free of the rash, but coughing violently. Lina gave her a draught, but eventually had to resort to casting a sleep spell before moving on to the next one, a young woman who had also developed a rash. She was unconscious, but somehow the thought of moving on and letting her die alone was too much. Unsure of whether or not she could even hear her Lina told her stories as the hours ticked past. By the time she had died, the wagons were coming in with new patients.

Lina went to help with the triage process, only to find there was not much to do. "We found five people." Rudy said, "Out of a city of thousands, five."

Amelia shook her head despairingly, "Are there people still out there who haven't caught this?"

"I think." He said.

"I'm leery of bringing them to the palace while so many are sick here." She said. "But it can't be easy surviving alone out there."

"What, so once the plague has run its course, you're going to bring whoever is left to live in the palace?" Lina asked.

Amelia shrugged, "The few who have survived are already housed in the west wing. If humanity is going to survive we're going to have to band together."

"Oh." Lina said, deciding what she said made sense. She had not thought to think about what had happened to the other survivors, or where people like Rudy stayed for the night. Seeing that the healers had the situation with the wagons under control, she went back to tending to the ill.

The day passed in a haze of giving out medicine, keeping a vigil with the dying, and pulling blankets over their faces when they departed. So invested was she in her work that when Zel came running excitedly into the room calling her name that at first she assumed the worst and thought that Gourry must have relapsed.

She turned white as she met him at the entrance of the hall, Amelia tailing close behind, "Gourry, is he all right?"

"What? Oh, he's fine I'm sure. That's why I tracked you down actually." He said, unusually flustered, "Lina, I need you to go through everything you gave Gourry again."

Lina frowned, "Huh?"

"I just finished confirming the results of his blood screen. Lina, there's something foreign in there that I think helped fight the infection."

"Foreign?" Lina repeated stupidly, "What do you mean?"

"I found the usual compounds that we expect to see given the regimen you had him on. There was opium in his blood, for instance. But there's something else I've not seen before and haven't recognized. Just to see I mixed some blood from his sample with that of another person who died, and it destroyed the abnormalities that I found in the blood that I believe cause the infection! It has to be from your stock of medicine."

"But the only thing I gave him after the rash appeared was the lotion." Lina said, "And I got that from you."

"May be there was something different about that batch?" Amelia suggested.

"If that's the case, then why isn't everyone who was given that batch recovering?" Zel asked.

"Do you still have that vial?" Amelia asked.

Lina felt as though a stone had formed in her stomach, "I threw it away."

"It's unlikely that something applied through the skin would reach the blood anyway." Zel said.

"Right," Lina said, feeling stupid as she struggled to think about what she had given him. Medicine. Soup. Tea. "Wait a minute, I gave him some tea with some nillicinep I got from Solaria."

"So? We give that out all the time." Amelia said.

"The apothecary there was saying something about the nillicinep there having enhanced properties that you can't find elsewhere. A new strand or something. She charged me an arm and a leg for it." Lina said excitedly, wondering why she had only remembered that now. "I mean, he had the tea before he had the rash, but may be it took a while to concentrate in his blood and fight the infection? Could that be it?" 

"It has to be!" Amelia said excitedly as she clutched Zel's arm.

He smiled at her affectionately. "We'll have to try it on our other patients to make sure, but this is promising, more promising than anything we've seen since this plague started." Zel said, his face shining with hope.

"I've still got some." Lina said as walked to the table and took her mantle off, the hope within her dislodging the despair and depression she had been feeling throughout the day.

Amelia wrapped her arm around Zel and followed as the healers close to them looked curiously, wondering at looks of hope and excitement so rare these days on the trios faces. Lina rummaged through her belongings with gusto. "Here." Lina said, pulling out a bag and handing it to Zel.

"What instructions do you have for administering it?"

"I just brewed it as tea." Lina said, "I'll show you."

The dank atmosphere of despair that congregated in the room morphed as Lina brewed the tea and Amelia rounded the healers up until it was replaced with something that could only be described as jubilation. Majestically, as though some guiding force wanted to give them encouragement that they were on the right path, they found they had enough for all of the patients currently in the east wing, with a little bit left over.

"I guess we'll have to find someone to spare and send to Solaria. Ooh, I know, we should send Naga for that very task!" Lina said chipperly as she passed out cups of tea to the healers.

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself." Zel said, though there was little reproach in his voice. "We have to make sure this works first."

"It has to!" Lina said, "After all, Gourry is still alive and roaming about. It has to have been the tea."

Zel smiled as Amelia rejoined them and grabbed his hand. Idly Lina wondered if their relationship had turned intimate and made a note to ask Amelia about it later. "You won't find me arguing with you there, Lina. Still, best wait till tomorrow before we send someone out to forage Solaria."

"Come to think of it," Amelia said, "I'll have to check and see what news we have from them. Surely if this is native to that area someone there must have found that it is effective."

"And then their survivors could join with our survivors." Lina said.

"Now you two are really getting ahead of yourselves." Zel said, but he was smiling nonetheless. "And there's still the mission to Zeferia."

Lina waved her hand dismissively, "I'll Dragon Slave the hell out of them, piece of cake. Anyway, I'm off to check on Gourry. I'll catch up with you two tomorrow."

"Bye." Amelia said with a knowing wink as she stood beside Zel and tilted her head so it was resting against his shoulder. Lina did her best to ignore the knowing smile playing on Amelia's face as she added. "Have fun!"

Competing feelings warred within her as she walked to her room. For the first time in weeks she was feeling optimistic and hopeful, she felt like celebrating! At the same time, the weight of the expectation for the evening was starting to make itself felt. She had managed to avoid it this morning but the next Amelia was certainly going to grill her on her forays into physical romance. And if it wasn't magical and wonderful and perfect, well, not only would it be horrible to have to share, but she would have kept Gourry waiting for years only to let him down by being a virginal idiot.

She took a deep breath and reminded herself that things had gone well in the morning. She had been having fun, and he certainly seemed to have been enjoying himself as well. Regretfully she wished that they hadn't have been interrupted. She'd had no time to overthink things then. And now she couldn't help but to do so.

Still, there was a building tension in her belly and a need to be closer to him and experience physical love that was powerful enough to overpower her fears, even if it could not extinguish them. And the niggling feeling that if she didn't move forward with him and make up for lost time then she would squander her third chance with him fed the embers. So it was with a sense of anticipation and nerves that she opened the door. "What the hell are you doing?" she exclaimed.

Gourry lowered his sword, "Hey!" he said cheerfully.

"You should be in bed!" Lina admonished as she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the bed and pushed him down so he was sitting on the edge of it.

"I was getting tired of laying around all day." He said as he set his sword by the nightstand, "Besides, if I don't practice then I'll get rusty."

"You can practice tomorrow once you have the okay from Amelia or some other healer." Lina said as she folded her arms across her chest.

He looked at her and put his hand to her cheek, "I'm fine." He insisted as he stroked her cheek. "I just need to get back to my old routine."

Lina exhaled a deep breath, "Just take care of yourself. If anything were to happen to you, well, I don't know what I'd do."

He guided her face down to his so he could kiss her tenderly, "Same with you. Tell me about your day."

She sat beside him, cuddling up to him as he wrapped an arm around her. She was amazed at how natural it was to be with him like this. "Gourry, it's incredible. When you got sick it looks like I gave you something that fights the infection. I gave what I had left to Zel and we just gave it to everyone in the east wing. Hopefully by tomorrow we'll find everyone there as happy and healthy as you!"

His eyes widened, "So, if I hadn't have gotten sick, we never would have found the cure?"

Lina smiled softly and stroked his hair, "Looks like it. Next time you want to defeat a plague, though, don't scare me so much in the process."

"So, it looks like we've just saved the world again." He said as he squeezed her gently to him.

"Looks like." She replied as he shifted beside her so he could look at her directly.

"Well, if you're wanting to celebrate, I have a few ideas we could try out."

Lina felt her heart flutter. It was late. No one was going to interrupt them now. The moment had come arrived, but she was suddenly struck with performance anxiety. She wished they had not been interrupted in the morning. She had had less inhibitions then. So instead of giving a flirty reply and showing him all that he meant to her, she stared at him in panic.

He mistook her silence for reticence. "I'm sorry, I…"

She put on finger on his lips, the fear of not acting and losing him again overpowering her fear of acting, "It's fine," she said, "I want to, it's just…I don't want to do badly at this." She said as she looked away, feeling like an idiot.

He put a finger under her chin and lifted it up so he could kiss her. "Don't worry so much. Me being with you, there is no bad," he said as he kissed her again, "There's only been good, and very good. I don't think you could touch me and it not be good."

She drew her arms around him as he stroked her hair, "Besides, if our first time is the best time ever, then we'll have nothing to look forward to in the future, right? So our best time should be another night."

She laughed as she squeezed him tighter. Who else but Gourry could put her at ease with his quaint ideas? She drew his face to hers and kissed him deeply, and learned as things progressed that they were very good indeed.


	6. Chapter 6

Lina was not quite sure when she crossed the boundary between sleep and wakefulness in the morning. There was the vague memory of being pulled from a dream by a pair of gentle hands caressing her body, causing her to grow warm with desire as she realized that Gourry was spooning behind her, very aroused, and working to get her into a similar state. She turned so they were face to face to kiss him, her hands surveying the landscape of his body as she received him. By the time he had rolled over beside her, relaxed and sated, the fact that she had had a bad dream had been forgotten.

"Looks like I've fully recovered." He said as she cuddled up to him.

"Oh?" she asked.

"You've not checked my forehead once this morning." He said playfully.

"Don't give me a reason too, either!" she said as he started to stroke her hair while she traced lazy circles on his chest and gazed out the window. "Anyway, looks like today you get to drag your ass out of bed and find a way to be a boon to this place."

"After we have breakfast." He said as his stomach rumbled.

She smiled, "Well, maybe we should check on the patients first, see how well the tea worked."

"If you want…" he started.

"On the other hand, they'll still be healthy even after we have breakfast." She continued as her stomach joined his in rumbling.

He squeezed her hand, "Love you."

As they got up and dressed Lina marveled at how little things had actually changed between them, or herself. Aside from being tantalizingly tender between the legs from being stimulated in ways she never had before, losing her virginity had not been the earth shattering event everyone had made it out to be. It had been nice, but she didn't feel any different. She still felt like Lina.

"Ready?" he asked as he put an arm around her shoulder.

"You bet!" she said as they headed into the hallway, and then stopped and looked at each other.

"West wing." Lina said, "And that way is west."

"Do you actually know where the dining hall is?"

"No idea." She said, though she confidently made her way west. "I'm sure that with your heightened senses you'll be able to find it for us."

"What do you think I am, a dog?" he asked, "Though, now that you mention it, I do smell pancakes."

"Way to go Gourry!" she said as she patted him on the back, "Just follow your nose and we'll be there in no time!"

They joked with each other back and forth until they both stopped in their tracks, arrested by the unmistakable sounds of children at play. They looked at each other and Lina felt surprised to realize that tears were welling in her eyes. "Wow." Gourry said, sounding overwhelmed himself, "In the towns we went through, it was so quiet without the children playing in the streets. I missed it."

"Children." She whispered. "I thought that all the children had died."

Before they could say anything else a couple of girls rounded the corner and nearly ran into them. "Careful!" Gourry said, though his voice was light and gentle, "Don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Sorry, sir." One giggled.

"Are you two survivors from the east wing?" the other one asked.

"He is." Lina said. "But what about you two? How are you two even alive?"

"Our mama is a powerful healer, and they think she passed her magical capacity to us. I've already learned the Recovery spell!" the older one said proudly.

"And I can do a light spell!" the younger one added, and Lina recognized the earnest desire to prove herself in her voice, "Mama says I'm going to be a good healer one day. Want to see my light spell?"

"Sure." Lina said with a smile, wondering why it hadn't occurred to her until now that children who had inherited high magical capacity would also be spared. The knowledge that there was a subset of children that was immune to the plague, no matter how small in number, was comforting. "Wow, that is a good light spell."

"Looks like you are going to be a good sorceress one day." Gourry added.

The younger one beamed.

"I'm Polly. That's Jill. What's your name?"

"Lina." She said, "This is Gourry, and we're hungry. Can you show us where the dining hall is?"

"Sure thing!" Polly said, and the girls raced down the hall. Lina and Gourry followed them and soon found the dining hall. Lina and Gourry said their goodbyes to the girls, who raced off elsewhere to play and took in their surroundings. There was a long wooden table in the center of the room along which sat more healthy people than Lina and Gourry could remember seeing congregating together since the plague started. And it looked as though Polly and Jill weren't the only future sorcerers in the making. A handful of children sat on the benches eating toast and jam. A few women even held babies as they ate.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see children." Lina commented, surprised by the depth of the hope that surged within her every time she looked at them.

"Looks like someone's clock is ticking." Naga sang as she placed a hand on Lina's shoulder.

Lina jumped, wondering where she had come from. "Who asked you?" she yelled.

"It was bound to happen. You meet a handsome man, fall in love, and before you know it you're trading adventure and treasures on the road for diapers and wiping noses." Naga continued as Zel and Amelia joined them.

"S-shut up." Lina said.

"Well, it's going to have to happen." Naga said, "If humanity is going to survive you and everyone else had better start breeding like rabbits. I'm making it a law that everyone must have a minimum of seven children to ensure the survival of humanity."

Zel shifted uncomfortably as Lina quipped, "Guess that goes for you, too."

"Thank goodness for nannies."

"And how is any nanny going to take care of her own seven children while taking care of your brats?" Lina asked.

Naga made a strange sound, "On second thought, I may have to make some exceptions."

Lina smiled, "Anyway, Gourry, let's get some food. Gourry?"

She turned to look at him only to find he was gawking at Naga in disbelief. "Oh, really!" she huffed as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the breakfast buffet that lined the wall.

"Lina, who's that?"

"That's Naga, the new queen of Seyruun." She said as she grabbed a plate and started piling food onto it.

"Huh?"

"Yes, she was crowned yesterday and then she was in meetings all day with what is left of the advisors." Said Daris as he came up to greet them, followed by Sylphiel. "Dig in, Sylphiel worked hard to make it."

Lina frowned, "What's she doing cooking anyway? She's a healer."

"Well, with her voice gone she can't exactly prepare the medicine." Daris said, "She's more useful in the kitchens."

"The medicine was pre made." Lina said as she made her way to an empty stretch of the dining table. "Though, I guess you do need to cast the occasional sleep spell."

Sylphiel followed behind them carrying drinks looking rather haggard. Lina thought back to when her magic was sealed and how much harder everything was as she sat on the bench. Her magic had only been sealed for a few days, Sylphiel's voice had been gone for weeks! No wonder it was wearing on her.

Sylphiel set drinks in front of them and took a seat beside Lina. Gourry flanked her other side, and Zel, Amelia and Naga eventually joined them on the opposite side. Lina tried to ignore the fact that Gourry was staring at Naga's breasts, reminding herself that he seemed perfectly happy with hers last night.

"Any news from the east wing?" Lina asked.

"Haven't checked." Amelia said, "I figured we could all go down together and witness it for ourselves."

"Witness what?" Daris asked. Lina noted that he, too, was also staring at Naga's assets. She felt a little better considering that Sylphiel herself was rather well endowed. She glanced at Sylphiel, and saw that she was staring at Naga in disbelief. Lina smiled a little, thinking back to the first time she met Naga and how hard it was not to stare. After all, how often do you see someone walking around so comfortably in so little?

"We found a cure for the plague." Amelia announced confidently.

Daris dropped his fork and Sylphiel's head shot up. "What?" he exclaimed.

"When Zel took a blood sample from Mr. Gourry, he noticed that there was something in his blood that was fighting the infection." Amelia explained, and Lina smiled to herself as she noted that Amelia had dropped the formalities with Zel. "We found it has to be something in the tea Miss Lina gave him. We gave it to all of the patients last night. This morning we expect to find zero fatalities!"

Sylphiel paled and looked close to tears while Daris buried his face into his hands. "It's all preliminary." Zel cautioned, "It may not be the tea, we don't know for sure yet. But it's the best lead we've had to turn the tide against the plague."

Daris looked up, shaking his head as he whispered, "Wow, that is news."

Lina studied them, wondering why they both seemed so gloomy. "What is it?"

"Well, it's just we saw this in Zeferia, someone would find some sure fire cure, and it wouldn't work." Daris explained, "I guess we're just scared of being let down again."

"Have you seen anyone who developed a rash survive?" Lina asked, her voice low.

"No."

"There you have it. Gourry is walking proof that it works."

He smiled, "I hope so."

An awkward silence descended upon the group, broken by Gourry, "So, what's the plan for today?"

"First we'll go by the east wing to see how the survivors are doing." Amelia said.

"Then you and me need to get together to see about breaking Sylphiel's curse. I have an idea on where to start." Lina said.

"I'm stuck in meetings all day." Naga whined. "The burdens of being queen."

"What can I do to help?" Gourry asked.

"Hmm." Amelia said, obviously thinking of things he could do that would not overtax him. "We could use some help in the gardens. We've got to keep our food supplies up, and it's close to the palace should you need to get some rest."

"Well, okay. But I've never done much gardening before."

"I'll likely be documenting information we get from the east wing." Zel said as he finished drinking his coffee.

Sylphiel shifted nervously at the mention of the east wing, and Lina's irritation flared. How dare they bring a cloud to rain on her optimism! "Oh come on!" Lina snapped, ready to stick it to them. "Let's go and check it out already."

The group finished their breakfast and got up and headed down the hallway. Gourry and Zel headed the front, Daris and Sylphiel the middle while Lina rounded up the rear with Amelia and Naga. "You and Zel seem too have dropped the formalities."

Amelia beamed, "Last night was a good night."

"You mean you actually _did_ it with a chimera?" Naga asked incredulously.

Amelia blushed, "He's just as human as the rest of us. _And_ he's helped us out tremendously."

Naga laughed, and everyone in the hallway flinched. "I didn't know you liked your men rock hard. Looks like my little sister has some kinks. What was that even like? I mean, does he have rocks on his…"

Lina smacked the back of her head, "Show some tact!"

"You show some respect!" Naga roared.

Amelia got between them, "Is this really the time for this?" she asked.

Lina and Naga glared at each other, and then continued down the hallway, the rest of the group giving them curious looks. "Anyway, Amelia, I have an idea for breaking the curse."

And riding on that safe topic, they reached the east wing, opened the doors to the ballroom and stepped inside. From somewhere a patient coughed violently. Lina looked around, a feeling of disquiet growing in her stomach as she easily counted ten beds with blankets pulled over the faces of the occupants. And then she saw the healer Amelia has relieved the previous day, facing a wall and wiping tears from her face.

Amelia walked up to her, her voice hesitant, "How did it go tonight, Miss Rosie?"

"Same as always, Princess." Rosie said, her voice despondent. "There doesn't seem to have been any change."

For a moment no one said anything. Then Lina exclaimed, "But, it has to have been the tea!"

"May be…may be it takes a while to work?" Amelia suggested weakly.

"When did you first give it to him?" Zel asked.

"Right when he got sick." Lina said as her throat fell into her heart. "The first day he had symptoms. Damn, what if it had to be administered that first day?"

"Well, Mr. Gourry did go through all of the usual phases." Amelia said.

"That has to be it." Lina said without conviction as she thought of the many who would still die and felt the hope that had grown since the previous night deflate.

Disheartened the group stared at each other forlornly. "How many are left, Miss Rosie?" Amelia asked.

"Thirty."

"I'm going to stay here and take some blood samples." Zel said.

"I'll guess I'll take you and Miss Sylphiel to my office then." Amelia said as she grabbed and squeezed Zel's arm. She appeared to move in for a kiss, but he turned his head away. A look of pain flickered across her face, "See you tonight, I guess."

He nodded, and turned towards the patients while the others continued out the door.

"I'll join the three of you." Daris said, and Lina was overwhelmed with the urge to punch him in the face for being right. "For so long I've had to imagine what her beautiful voice would sound like, the minute I can I want to hear it."

"Oh please!" Lina snapped, "Go somewhere else where you can be useful."

"Sylphiel wants me with her, don't you?" Daris said.

Sylphiel nodded. Lina's irritation bubbled, "Really, Sylphiel, when did you become such a doormat?"

"Hey!" Daris yelled.

Amelia put a hand on Lina's arm, "I think we're all on edge right now and might want to take a step back." She said diplomatically.

Lina folded her arms across her chest as Gourry rubbed her back. "Well, I have important meetings to attend." Naga said as she left the group.

Amelia instructed Gourry on where to go to help with the gardening. He gave Lina a quick peck on the lips and they agreed to meet for dinner. Then Lina, Amelia, Sylphiel and Daris continued to Amelia's office. "So, what's your plan for breaking the curse?" Daris asked.

"First we have to find which Mazoku the spell draws power from." Lina said, "Once we can do that we can study other spells that draw power from that Mazoku and once we learn more about the nature of the curse we can find a way to lift it."

"How are you going to find out who it draws power from?" Daris asked.

"That's where I come in." Amelia said as they entered her office. "Though, it will take a moment to set up."

Lina pulled out some chalk from her cape and knelt down to draw a circle on the ground. Amelia started to draw some symbols around the circle. "These are the Mazoku Lords still among us, Shabranigdo, Beastmaster, Dynast, and Deep Sea Dolphin." Lina explained. "What we want to find out is which Lord or retainer the spell draws power from. Sylphiel, get into the circle."

Sylphiel nodded, and got out her staff, indicating that she understood where they were going. She knelt in the circle and stood her staff in front of her and closed her eyes, focusing. Seeing Sylphiel active in the process of lifting the curse was heartening. Amelia started chanting a spell, finishing with the words, "Reveal."

The staff fell forward, the sound of it hitting the marble floors the only thing breaking the silence. It stood still for a moment, and then started to rotate counterclockwise. Lina felt her breath catch in anticipation. Only the staff continued to rotate, until it circled the area where it started. The air in the room seemed to grow colder and more ominous. Sylphiel shot up to her feet, her eyes wide in fear as the growing sense that something was not right permeated the air as the staff continued to rotate, picking up momentum as it lapped the circle again.

The staff spun around her, moving so fast that it was a blur of blue against the salmon pink floor. Just as Lina started to think about ways to stop it, it flew forward from the circle, soaring towards Amelia and smacking her in the gut. Amelia let out a whoosh of air and she folded her arms across her stomach and fell to her knees, winded. "Amelia!" Lina cried and she knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sylphiel!" Daris cried. Lina turned to see him run to the circle and put a hand on her shoulder as her face contorted into a silent cry of pain. "Where does it hurt?"

Amelia put a hand on Lina's arm to indicate she was all right as she looked up at Sylphiel, who fell to her knees in apparent agony. "Get her out of the circle!" Lina yelled, going on pure instinct and nothing more.

Daris grabbed her and set her just outside the circle, ruining the chalk drawings as he did. Sylphiel put a hand to her mouth and pulled it away. It was covered in blood! And more was dribbling from her mouth. "Any more bright ideas?" Daris snapped sarcastically as the trickle of blood from her mouth increased.

As Lina sat stunned, frantically working to find a solution, Sylphiel's body contorted violently, scratching at Daris as she did, before rolling on her side and heaving a massive amount of blood. Lina was used to battle. She knew how a little bit of blood could look like a massive amount. Still. As Sylphiel continued to heave blood, it seemed the she was losing more blood than was possible to live without.

Amelia moved beside her and grabbed Sylphiel's wrist, trying to find a pulse, undeterred as the blood hit her, soaking her clothes. "Do something!" Daris yelled at her.

Lina moved beside Amelia and looked into Sylphiel's eyes. The light was rapidly fading from them. With a start Lina realized she was dying. Amelia started chanting and Lina grabbed Sylphiel's hand and held it while Daris sat on the other side, holding her other hand. Finally the bleeding stopped, but Sylphiel's eyes continued to stare dully at the room, the only indications that she was still alive was the occasional blinking and the tears welling in the corner of them.

Amelia continued to chant. Sylphiel's eyes gradually started to focus on Lina. She held Lina's gaze with her silent force of will, as if wishing she could communicate telepathically with her. The need to apologize welled within Lina. Somehow what should have been a simple method of helping her had turned horribly wrong. Sylphiel squeezed her hand tightly before passing out.

"Is…is she dead?" Daris yelled.

Lina put her fingers to Sylphiel's neck. There was a pulse, it was slow, but present. "No. I think she's going to pull through. But don't interrupt Amelia."

Daris glared at her accusingly. Lina flinched but held his gaze. There was some contest of wills going on, though Lina did not fully understand what it was about. By the time Amelia slouched forward, exhausted, the air between Daris and Lina cackled menacingly.

"She'll be fine." Amelia said, relief permeating her voice. "She just needs some rest."

"What the hell was that?" Daris asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"That is the nastiest curse I've ever seen." Amelia said, the traces of fear and awe still in her voice.

Lina nodded, "My guess is that the curse was designed so that any attempt to help her break it would result in her death, and thus the preservation of the secret."

"And let me guess, you the great sorcery genius and black magic practitioner, just happened to have no idea this would happen."

Lina bristled, "First, curses aren't my specialty. Offensive spells are. Second, yes, I had no idea. I've never heard of something like this happening."

"Me neither." Amelia added, "Worse I thought was that it wouldn't work and we'd have to try something different."

Daris snorted as he pulled Sylphiel close to him. "Sure you did. This has absolutely nothing to do with getting her out of the way."

Lina frowned, "Why would I want her out of the way? In case you didn't notice, Amelia just saved her life and…"

"You know you can't compete with her! I'm not an idiot! I've seen how she looks at him. She's beautiful, you're not, and you're scared that one day that swordsman you're with will wake up to that fact and finally return her affections."

Lina felt winded as he stood up, carrying Sylphiel with him. Lina got to her feet, anger pulsating through her so strong that she felt as though she would have hit him were it not for the fact that he was holding Sylphiel. "Looks like you're not only delusional but insecure. What's the matter Daris? Having a hard time keeping her satisfied? Realizing that you're always going to be second in her affections because you're not half the man Gourry is?"

Daris glared at her, and then turned to Amelia, "Isn't it funny, Princess, that the only person who has survived having a rash is her lover? And that her supposedly miraculous tea has failed to save one damn life? And then she goes and hatches a plan that almost kills the one person who can save us all?"

Amelia's eyes narrowed and Lina felt unaccustomedly flummoxed by what he was accusing. "That's crazy! Miss Lina would never do that!"

"She just did. Wake up Princess, she's called the Enemy of All Who Live for a reason."

Lina felt her hands bunch up into fists as Amelia said, "That's undeserved. Well, mostly undeserved. At heart she's truly a good person! She would never so something so unjust! Besides, you understand little of her friendship with Sylphiel."

"Two women who love the same man can't be friends!" Daris yelled.

"They can."

"So that's how it is, defend that witch. I see where Seyruun lies. Of course, your kingdom always had had an interest in protecting her. Well, you two stay away from Sylphiel! And same to the swordsman! She's mine now!"

Stunned, both Lina and Amelia watched incredulously as he fled out of the door with Sylphiel in his arms. "Wh-what was that all about?" Amelia stuttered as she sank onto a couch, shaking slightly as adrenaline continued to pound through her body.

Lina sat beside her, feeling blindsided. "Where did that come from?"

"Maybe once he settles down he'll be more reasonable." Amelia suggested as she shook her head in disbelief. "May be Miss Sylphiel will help him see reason."

Lina didn't reply. Her thoughts where heavy with the knowledge that even Daris didn't seem to think that Sylphiel returned his feelings. Unkindly and unfairly, the thought rose that maybe it was a rouse on Sylphiel's part to get Gourry to develop feelings for her by getting into a fake relationship. Lina quashed the idea. Sylphiel had always been respectful of their bond. And she didn't think that Sylphiel had it in her to be so manipulative.

Lina rubbed her temples, and then pulled her hand away to stare at her glove, which was covered in blood that she had now smeared on her face. She looked at Amelia, who looked at her. "Time for a bath?"

Amelia nodded as she got up from her couch and then looked at the floor. "First I guess we'd better get this…"

"What?" Lina asked, and then she turned to look at what Amelia was staring at.

"Is that?" Amelia asked as her eyes traced the pattern that the blood had made on the floor.

"It is." Said Lina as she felt herself start to shake. Sylphiel's suffering had not been for naught. She had paid dearly, but they had not left without a clue to pursue at least. "Looks like the jellyfish was right."

Lina and Amelia stared at the giant question mark traced in blood and felt whatever heat was left in the room vanish.

* * *

Lina sank into the bath, relishing the feel of the warm water against her tense muscles, and thanking her lucky stars that she was in a Seyruun palace with indoor plumbing and friendly enough with the princess to have access to her fancy private bathing room. Amelia joined her, both of them tired. It had taken forever, but at least Amelia's office was cleansed of blood. The other problems facing them, though, waited.

"I guess Seyruun doesn't exactly have a catalogue of curses." Lina finally said.

"There's some. It's a place to start." Amelia said, "What are you going to be looking for?"

"Every curse that draws power from Xellos and how to break them." Lina said.

"I guess I'll look into some White Magic solutions. Granted, if this happened when we just tried to find who it draws power from, I'm scared of what might happen if we actually tried to break it."

"You've got a point." Lina said, wondering if she should give up that angle as being too risky, "A very good point." She finally conceded.

They were both silent for a moment. "The day started off so well." Amelia said.

Lina nodded in agreement, "Should have stopped while we were ahead at breakfast."

Amelia didn't say anything. Lina turned to look at her and found that she was biting her lip. "What is it?"

"I was with Zel last night." Amelia began slowly, "And, well, with the excitement of what happened one thing led to another and well, things got intimate. And I'd always thought if that happened that would mean forever. But this morning, I can't shake the feeling that he regrets last night."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Amelia!" Lina said, "Why would he regret it?"

"Don't know." Amelia said, "He never talks to me about it. Just, he was so nervous this morning, and he wouldn't kiss me. I guess I just never should have gone to sleep."

Resolving to have a little talk with Zel later Lina said, "He probably just got scared that someone would tease him or something. I mean, it's a good thing he didn't hear your sister this morning. He's real sensitive to stuff like that. I wouldn't worry about it."

"Yes, we've got plenty of other things to worry about." Amelia said as she stood up, "I guess we should check on the east wing. See if there's been any change."

Lina nodded in agreement and reluctantly moved to get up. "Then it'll be time to hit the books."

"Miss Lina," Amelia said as she wrapped a towel around herself, "You and Mr. Gourry seemed close this morning, I mean, you two have…"

"If you're wanting a blow by blow you're not going to get it." Lina said, "But we crossed that bridge, so to speak. The world is falling apart around us but we're doing good."

Amelia smiled, "That's some good news then. It helps keep my belief in happy endings afloat."

* * *

What little hope Lina had left for the day vanished as she stepped into the ballroom. It was even less crowded than it was that morning. Lina and Amelia shared a dejected look as they tracked down a healer. "Has anyone pulled through?" Amelia asked.

The young woman shook her head morosely, "None. And we lost twenty two. We're down to eight. No new plague victims were brought in today."

The doors opened, and Lina and Amelia turned to find Zel standing in the doorway, his shoulders hunched as he walked over to them. "I'm not seeing the chemical in the blood of any of the survivors that I found in Gourry's." Zel said, "Not even in any minute concentration."

Amelia clasped her hand to her mouth to stifle a sob. Numb, Lina slowly put a hand on her shoulder as Zel folded his arms across himself. "You mean we wasted another day barking up the wrong tree?" Lina hissed.

"It seems like it."

"Dammit!" Lina screeched, punching the air futilely. "How could I have been so stupid?"

Amelia collapsed into a chair and buried her face in her hands as she burst into tears. Lina knelt beside her and put an arm around her, feeling miserable, wishing that she had never gotten her hopes up in the first place. Having them come crashing down after being so sure that they had found a cure only made it worse.

"Don't do this here, Amelia." Zel whispered.

Lina bristled. How could he be so callous at a time like this? And why wasn't he doing anything to comfort her? "Show some humanity!" she snapped.

Zel glared at her, "The healers are staring. She's been leading them through this all this time, she can't break down in front of them like this."

Amelia took a deep, steadying breath. "You're right." She said, her voice shaky, "We have to move on to the next thing."

Her voice lacked conviction. "What's the next thing?" Lina asked.

"We go through everything you brought with you and give it to the remaining patients. Something has to work!" Amelia said, the fanaticism creeping back into her voice.

Feeling really regretful that she had thrown away the vials containing the medicine she had used, Lina undid her mantle and started to grab all of the medicinal herbs she had. As the afternoon wore on they administered what they had to the remaining patients, but Lina did not dare feel any of the hope she had the previous day. Even if they did find something to help, it was too late for the twenty two who had died. The weight of their deaths weighed on her conscience, and she wondered how Zel and Amelia had endured this for a month.

It didn't take long to administer what they had to the eight remaining patients. When they finished the three sat at a desk, the excitement that had been sparked the previous day completely vanquished. Lina's heart felt heavy, and there was an ache growing behind her eyes, along with a need to be alone. She was about to make her excuses to leave when Amelia said, "I guess I'd better check on Miss Sylphiel."

Lina debated joining her as Zel asked what had happened and Amelia filled him in. Part of Lina wanted to make sure Sylphiel was okay, the other part really wanted to be alone. Still, if Amelia could keep going, she could. "I'll go with you."

Amelia looked at her cautiously, "May be I should see how Mr. Daris is first. I can let you know at dinner if he's calmed down."

"Oh." Lina said, stunned. Amelia had a point, but still. It was aggravating that she could not check on a friend because her boyfriend disapproved. "I'll just got to my room for a bit then." It was getting harder and harder to keep herself together in front of them and her voice wavered ominously, "See you later, tell Sylphiel I said 'hi.'"

Stiffly Lina got up and walked to her room, the urge to breakdown overwhelming. The hallway started to pass in a blur as her eyes became tear filled. Finally, she found her door, and she threw it open, ready to fling herself onto the bed and cry until she could face the world again. The only problem was that Gourry was already sitting on the bed, tending his armor. "Hi." He said quietly.

"Shouldn't you be at dinner, or something?" she said, more harshly than she should have as she struggled to keep it together.

He regarded her carefully as she shut the door and stood there, gazing at the floor, arms across her chest. "What's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything is wrong?" she snapped, not wanting to burden him with everything that was wrong when he was still recovering and wishing he would leave, take a walk, take a bath, anything to give her some time to herself to get sorted.

"I heard that most of the patient died today." He said morosely, his expression heavy but his voice calm. "So a lot of things seem to be wrong."

"How can you say that so calmly?" she shrieked, moving towards him, her fists clenched threateningly, "Everything's wrong, and you just sit there and point it out as if you were saying it was raining! Get mad! Cry! Yell!"

Most men would have run away in fear over the storm that was raging inside of her. But he bravely stood up and moved towards her. The fact that he was advancing towards her, his demeanor an epitome of calm, his expression loving, and not running in terror as he ought to be rattled her. Horrified she realized that her fist were formed and that she was about to start swinging. The memory of the vow she had made to treat him better rose through her mind, the vow she was breaking. Wouldn't that be her luck? To end the day by losing him again because she couldn't even maintain her promise to treat him better for one damn week? "I'm sorry." She sobbed suddenly, reaching out and pulling him close, "I'm so sorry, I…I don't know why…"

"Shh." He said as he wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair, "It's been a bad day."

"I shouldn't take it out on you. I always take it out on you! Why are you even with me?" she said, her voice raising in pitch and hysteria.

"I love you." He said, holding her tighter, "Cry all you need to. You've had a bad day, let it out."

Lina buried her face into his chest in howled in grief and frustration. And then she cried for what seemed like hours, but truly was more of minutes. When she finally started to calm down she noticed that somehow they'd made it to the bed. When she finally managed to look at him she saw that his face was also lined with tears. It helped her feel better about breaking down.

Bodies entwined they stared at each other. Lina was feeling so tired and numb that she was debating the merits of getting up for dinner even. "Ready for dinner?" he asked, as though reading her mind.

"What's it going to help?" Lina asked. "This mess will still be there."

"But we'll be facing it on a full stomach." He said as he stood up and offered her his hand, "It helps a lot actually."

Wearily Lina stood up, "Promise?"

"Promise."

"I'm holding you to that."


	7. Chapter 7

A feeling of gloom plagued the survivors as one by one the remaining patients in the east wing died and no more ill people were brought in. Until then, there had been hope. Hope of finding a cure, hope of rescuing more people, hope that somehow they would wake up and find that the past month was just a horrible nightmare and that life would resume as normal. The reality that the population of the city of Seyruun, which used to have numbers into the thousands, was down to several hundred, most of them adults was a heavy weight. And as Zel was quick to point out as he continued to pursue a cure, that population was fragile.

"If we don't find a cure, then the children that will be born will be vulnerable." Zel explained expressionlessly to Gourry's question. "The people who survived the plague who have no magical ability will likely have children who also have no protection from it, and those children will die if they are exposed. Similarly, just because a child's parent is a powerful sorcerer, it doesn't necessarily mean that that child will have that ability. And since we don't know what causes the plague and how to avoid it, any resurgence among the children would most likely completely wipe out the upcoming generation."

"That's true." Lina said as she finished eating her eggs, "But I don't know why you're putting so much effort into it now. Once we take down this Cult of Shabranigdo we'll be able to access all of their research into creating this plague."

"Provided they haven't destroyed it." Zel said morbidly before sipping some coffee.

"Damn." Lina said. "They're sick enough that I wouldn't put it past them."

"By the way, Mr. Gourry, how have you been feeling?" Amelia asked.

"Well enough to leave." Gourry said.

"We're staying put until the week is out just to make sure you stay that way." Lina said firmly, though she was also itching at the skin to leave the palace and go to her hometown and to find out what had befallen her family. Hell, she didn't even want to be en route, she wanted to be there! But for the moment it was not possible, so she tolerated it as best she could.

"Besides, we have a lot to plan." Amelia said, "Since there won't be any restaurants, we're going to have to make sure we have plenty of food. We'll have to take a wagon to carry it all."

"We'll also need to get more details from Daris and Sylphiel about where the cult is holed up and their armaments." Lina added, though she did not relish the thought of spending time with Daris.

"Yes, we'll have that meeting after lunch." Amelia said, "And we're lucky to get that. When I went to see Miss Sylphiel last night he at first refused to let me in! Miss Sylphiel got up and led him from the door and indicated that I was welcome. I guess she's learned how to pantomime a point in the month since she lost her voice, but she eventually got it through his thick head that we were only trying to help and no one could have foreseen what happened. He grumbled about it, but he's prepared to work with us again."

"What an ass." Lina said as she glanced over to see both Daris and Sylphiel hard at work in the kitchen. Once again that she wished she was already home and not about to embark on one of the longest trips of her life with someone she was coming to despise.

"Anyway, Gourry," Zel said, changing to subject, "I was wondering if I could get another blood sample before you go to the gardens."

"Sure, but why?" the swordsman replied as he pushed his plate away, indicating he was done with breakfast.

"A number of reasons." Zel said, "I'll explain on the way to my lab."

"And so we part." Lina said as she got up, "Amelia and I have some research to do in the library."

"Take care." Gourry said as he put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Meet you for lunch?"

"You're on!"

"You two are so sweet together now." Amelia observed once the men were out of earshot.

Lina felt awkward, but it was not because Amelia was getting into her personal business. Once again, Zel had made no such romantic gestures towards Amelia. "What's going on between you and Zel?"

"Well," Amelia said with deliberate airiness that did not conceal her true feelings, "He's been working a lot, you know. Most nights he seems to fall asleep in his lab."

"Have you talked to him about it?" Lina asked.

"It's not like I haven't been busy." Amelia snapped. Her change in mood was so sudden that Lina was stunned silent. After a few awkward moments, Amelia continued more gently, "Sorry. Actually that's why I think I don't talk to him. I've been snapping so easily lately, and over the stupidest things! Doesn't help that it's 'that time of the month.'"

"Is it for you?" Lina asked, "Wow, I guess our schedules got off while I was away."

For some reason, Amelia lit up, "Are you late?"

Lina frowned, "I don't know."

Amelia smiled knowingly, and for some reason Lina felt compelled to state, "Besides, it's not unusual for me to miss when I'm stressed. It's like my body knows I'm fighting some powerful enemies and not to drain my powers with my cycles. When Hellmaster abducted Gourry they didn't resume for three months!"

But Amelia continued to stare at her with an annoyingly knowing expression, "But you and Mr. Gourry have been all the way, haven't you?" As Lina turned shades of red never before reached Amelia continued, "You could be in the family way!"

"Oh come off it, Amelia!" Lina yelled, "That can't be it!"

"How can you be so sure? Have you been using a sterility spell or potion?"

"Because if I were I'd be puking too much too much to be talking to you now!" Lina flared defensively as she was confronted with the fact that she had been having sex without any protection against pregnancy. Worse, it hadn't even been something that she'd gotten carried away with in the heat of the moment! She'd had time to think about whether or not she wanted to have sex and had never bothered to mess with anything to prevent pregnancy.

Then she felt that yearning she'd been feeling lately, the overwhelmingly novel desire to have a baby. It was strange to feel it. She'd never been interested in settling down and having babies. She still wasn't sure on the settling down part. But suddenly she was aware that she wanted one badly! She wanted something to be hopeful about. She wanted some good news after the nightmare she'd been living in. She wanted the promise of new life after all of this senseless death.

Realizing how desperately she wanted it was strangely painful. She wondered if she'd deliberately forgot to cast a spell on herself in the hopes of getting pregnant without having to admit just how badly she wanted it.

Just like she wanted nothing more at the moment than to be home in Zefiel City, she also wanted to be pregnant. The stray thought of how she was going to reconcile this with her image of herself as the beautiful and adventuress sorcery genius flew through her mind.

Amelia beamed, "You're emotional! That's a symptom!" She pounced as though she had found conclusive evidence. "Ooh! I hope it's a girl, you can name her after me!"

"I'm not naming her after you!" Lina screeched as they made it into the library, "And the point is mute anyway."

"So you think it's a boy then?"

"I'm thinking I'm not pregnant!" Lina said as she found the shelf she needed and forced her attention on what she needed to research. Soon they settled down at a desk, piles of books around them. At least until Lina got fed up with Amelia humming lullabies and packed up her reading material and moved to another room where she could study in peace.

* * *

"Ooo, he pisses me off so bad!" Lina fumed as she stormed into the room she shared with Gourry, trailed closely by him. They had just spent a long afternoon drilling Daris for information about the Cult of Shabranigdo. The only redeeming thing was that they did get some good information. "I don't know how I'm going to survive the trip with stupid Daris along."

"Well, it's not as though we've never traveled with annoying people before." Gourry pointed out as she sat on the bed and took off her boots.

"You have a point, I guess." Lina conceded as she lay back on the bed, feeling unusually tired. She wondered if Amelia was right, and if the reason she was so tired was because she was pregnant. She started to imagine she was.

When a knock sounded at the door Lina jumped and resolved to beat the crap over whoever had disturbed her now that she was so comfortable. Fortunately for Zel, Gourry beat her to the door. Without preamble, he launched into the reasons for his visit, "I found something interesting when I tested your blood."

"Oh?" Gourry said as he sat on the bed and Lina sat up beside him, deciding she did like the slightly troubled expression on Zel's face.

"And it makes no sense." Zel stated, "That compound that I saw in your blood is still there, in the same concentration."

"What?" Gourry said.

"But how's that possible?" Lina asked, "He would have to continue to ingest it."

"Exactly." Zel said, "It makes no sense. We went through your supplies and found nothing. Gourry has been eating the same food and drinking the same water that everyone else here has. There's no reason it should be in there."

"Well, what if he doesn't ingest it?" Lina suggested before throwing random things out, "May be it's a protective property of something he's wearing? Or something about the whetstone he uses to sharpen his sword? Or…"

Lina's voice trailed off as she started to think of scenarios that seemed less and less likely. What if there was something genuinely miraculous about his recovery? What if her dream had been real? Had the Lord of Nightmares or whoever that Martina clone was saved him?

Should she say something? She decided not to. If it was a miracle, then it would be of no help to anyone in the future. And she didn't want to appear crazy.

"So I guess his recovery has been a dead end." Lina said.

"Might just be some quirk of his biology." Zel said. "Is there anything in your family history that might explain it?"

Gourry's eyes widened. It suddenly occurred to Lina that she had never heard Gourry voice any concern over his family in all of this disaster. After thinking for a moment Gourry answered, "No."

"Well, may be when we're done in Zeferia we should go to wherever you're from." Lina suggested, "See if any of them are still alive and if the plague followed a similar progression with them."

A look of intense pain briefly marred his face before he could compose it. "Can't."

Lina was surprised at his terse and uncooperative answer. "Why not?"

He opened his mouth as he seemed to weigh several different possible answers. Finally he settled on, "Most are dead. And the ones who aren't wouldn't want anything to do with me."

Silence descended upon the room for a few terse seconds as Lina struggled to make sense of his admission, "Well, I'm sure with the plague that whatever happened…"

"I might have thought that once." Gourry said, his voice unusually harsh, "But there's no changing some people, is there?"

"What happened?" Lina asked, baffled by this new side to him she was seeing.

"Most of them killed each other fighting over who would get the Sword of Light." He explained.

Lina's eyes widened, "Don't tell me you were the last one standing!"

Lina was sure that during their years together she must have found a million different ways to wound him. But never had he stared at her with such hurt and anger as he did then. "Don't be stupid." He snapped, "I stole it so they wouldn't have anything to fight and kill for. And I think most of them would still kill me on sight for it. Or try to."

Another uncomfortable silence filled the room as everyone struggled with something to say. Zel was the first to recover.

"In that case it may be a bad idea for you to go up there. However, if you tell me where they live and common surnames in your family, I could track them down once we finish in Zeferia."

"Well, okay." Gourry grumbled as Lina said, "Would you be taking Amelia?"

Zel's eyes shot open, "What?"

"You heard me."

"What does that have anything to do with anything?" Zel asked defensively.

Lina scowled, "What is up with you? Amelia told me that you two got intimate and that ever since you've been giving her the cold shoulder! I mean, I know you fancy yourself some sort of heartless mystical warrior or whatever, but jilting Amelia?"

"That's not…" Zel tried to cut in.

"That's what you're doing!" Lina yelled, "Do you know how happy being with you made her? Really, how could you be so cold to her after she's lost her whole kingdom? After how she's lost her father?"

Zel stood up, "I don't have to explain myself to you."

He made to the door. Lina was on his heels, "Then you go straight to Amelia's chambers and explain yourself to her!"

Zel ignored her as he flung open the door and stepped out into the corridor. "Hey!" Lina yelled, "Amelia's chambers are that way!"

But Zel continued to walk in the opposite direction. Lina was about to lay into him when Gourry put a hand on her shoulder. Lina was about to smack him when he said, "I'll talk to him tomorrow. He'll talk to me."

Her anger extinguished instantly, "How do you know that?"

"Well, you have things you tell Amelia you don't tell Zel, right? He tells me things he doesn't tell you."

Her curiosity piqued, she closed the door as she asked, "Like what?"

He smiled tiredly, "Don't remember. I just know he does!"

Not for the first time, Lina had the feeling he was playing dumb to avoid the question. She folded her arms across her chest and decided to let it go. Instead she watched him as he started to prepare for bed. Quietly he asked, "Did you really think I would kill my family for the Sword of Light?"

"No!" Lina said, "I didn't mean it like that. I mean, you're so noble! So if another family member was trying to steal it I could see you stopping them. Or something like that."

"Sure." He grumbled.

Something about his demeanor seemed off. Part of her figured it was about time. He'd been a rock of support through this ordeal, but he was only human. And it was good to finally see something shake him, to see him become as snippy and edgy as everyone else. The other part of her hated to see him like this. She was seized by the urge to help him feel better. He was so good at helping to pull her from the dark spots she found herself in. She wished she had that same ability.

_Maybe if I told him that I'm pregnant…_

She nixed the thought, even as she castigated herself for not asking Amelia if there was a way to check and see if she was. Wouldn't it be wonderful news? Especially after all of this death and gloom. It would surely make him feel better. He wanted to be a father so badly after all.

She settled for walking up to him and pressing herself against his back, wrapping her arms around his waist as she tilted her face so her cheek was resting against his soft hair, "Listen, you know me. I say things all of the time. And I know you. I mean, you've talked me out of slaying many a useless no good bandit, so I know you wouldn't kill someone of your own blood over a sword."

He squeezed her hands as his body started to tremble violently. "Gourry?" Lina asked in alarm as, for a brief moment, she wondered if he was having a seizure. "Talk to me!"

He turned and crushed her in his arms so tightly that it was difficult to breathe. He held her as though she were the breath of life. With a start she realized he was crying. When he finally spoke, his voice was unusually harsh. "I was hoping the plague had killed the rest of them."

Lina froze, unsure of what to do, "Why?"

"It seemed better that a plague should destroy us, rather than the clan destroying themselves like they have been."

Lina felt her blood go cold, "But you took the Sword of Light years ago."

"I learned a few years after I left home that there was simply too much bad blood by the time I left for it to matter. I stole the sword, and it only made the fighting worse." Lina had not thought it possible for him to hold her more tightly but somehow he managed it, "I cut myself off forever for no reason!"

"Well it sounds like they weren't worth being around if they were fighting like that!" Lina snapped.

"But I destroyed any way I had to help them mend their ways."

"Well, that's their own stupid fault." Lina said, "If I woke up one morning and found I'd driven you away I'd follow you to the ends of the earth to make it up to you! If finding you gone one morning didn't wake your family up than nothing would have.

"Besides," she said, pulling away from his death grip to brush the tears away from his face, "You wouldn't have met me. Just think of all you would have missed out on if that hadn't have happened!"

He smiled, "You got me there."

He leaned forward to kiss her. Lina felt a thrill of victory as it turned into a deep, passionate kiss and she realized that she could help him to feel better. Suddenly they had toppled to the bed, his hands on the buttons on her tunic and eager to get her out of it. Whereas before he had taken a slower pace as though he was scared of frightening her with his needs, now he wasn't holding back. Lina felt her desire boil as he moaned as he caressed her, the idea that merely feeling her was enough to drive him to the brink an enticing thought.

Lina helped him out of his shirt, and then took a moment to run her fingers through his hair before taking some time to explore him, the knowledge that she could be loving and provide some of the same solace that he had given her a boon to her ego. The intensity with which they made love was high and short lived, and soon they were entwined and exchanging in some post coital exchanges. His bad temper had dissipated, and Lina felt warm and secure in his arms as she started to drift into sleep, thinking that surely if it was the Lord of Nightmares who had intervened, she was now doing a good enough job of being the lover he needed her to be that she would never think of taking him from her again.

* * *

Gourry woke up screaming from a nightmare as he shot up in bed, startling Lina and jolting her from her own dream. At first she was too confused by the sudden transition from dreaming state to waking state to understand what had happened, but as the fog cleared she put a hand on Gourry's shoulder and he settled back beside her, wrapping his arms around her. His heart was racing, but then, so was hers. They lay in silence for a bit as rain pounded harshly against the roof, punctuated occasionally with thunder lulling him into a sense of calm. Lina, on the other hand, could not shake the disquiet she was feeling.

"Bad dream?" she asked.

"It felt so real." He whispered.

Lina stiffened. "What?" he asked, sensing the subtle motion.

"What did you dream about?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"I was fighting you. I had the Sword of Light. I killed you!"

Lina felt sick as she sat up and swung her legs over the bed and stood up, staring out the window with a hand over her mouth. "Lina?" his voice nervous, "What did I do?"

"That's impossible." She said.

"What is?" he asked.

Lina closed her eyes, "In the dream, did…" her voice trailed off for a moment as she collected herself, "My throat was cut." She said.

His eyes widened, "How did you know that?"

She shook her head, "I saw it! It was as though I were a spectator, watching from the side lines. I saw you fighting me."

He stared at her in disbelief, "How is that possible?"

"It's not." Lina said, and was silent for a moment before adding, "It shouldn't be."

"What does it mean?" he asked.

Lina stared out at the storm. "I have no idea."

There was an awkward silence as Lina stared out the window, lost in thought while Gourry traced his fingers along a pattern on the blanket. When he finally spoke his voice was hesitant. "That dream. I remember now. Back when that little boy kidnapped me, he made me fight you."

"No, Gourry!" she said as she rushed to his side, "It was just a dream…"

He put a hand on her arm as he said firmly, "I remember now."

Lina closed her eyes, "You were overpowered by that little shit. And you were fighting him. You could have killed me, but you fought back and got control long enough to stop yourself."

"I remember other things too." He continued quietly. "I remember what happened when I went into the black space after you."

Lina looked up at him, "When did you start to remember?"

He shook his head in disbelief, "Just now. I remember catching you, getting you back. I remember that we kissed."

She put a finger to his lips. He grabbed her hand and gently pulled it down. "Do you remember that?"

She nodded. "I had a dream, when I thought you were dying. I remembered kissing you. I didn't know if it was real or not."

"What does it mean?" he asked.

"I don't know." She said as she sat down beside him, suddenly aware that she was sitting on something wet.

"Shit." She hissed as she shot up and ran to the bathroom.

"Lina?" he asked as he got up to follow her and she slammed the door in his face. "You okay?"

"Women's problems." Lina muttered, red faced as she pulled her night gown up and found that her thighs were covered in blood.

"That time of the month. Gotcha." He said from behind the door.

"Idiot!" she screeched as she turned the faucet on the bath on. While she had gotten accustomed to letting him know when her cycles were for reasons of safety and strategy while on the road together, she'd never been in a position where he could see the blood. Desperately she hoped she hadn't bled on the sheets.

As she scrubbed herself clean, the embarrassment she felt faded into disappointment. Amelia was wrong. She was not pregnant. A lump formed in her throat as the reality of just how desperately she had wanted to be crushed her.

Gourry knocked on the door, "Lina, I've really got to pee."

Lina froze for a moment. As long as they had traveled together they rarely had to share a bathroom. And sharing one was something that came much more easily for him than for her. While he didn't give a second thought to coming in to pee while she was bathing or brushing her teeth, she was shyer about it. She thought briefly about telling him that there had to be another bathroom in the damn palace he could find to use the other part realized that this was just part of becoming closer to someone. "It's not locked."

He came in as she finished cleaning up and she quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her, avoiding eye contact as she did. All of her clothing and supplies was in the bedroom, and she hoped she didn't bleed on the short trip from the bathroom to them. She hurried into the bedroom and noticed that he had pulled the bed sheets up, something he typically couldn't be bothered with. Figuring that she must have bled all over them she grabbed her mantle and rummaged for her rags and dressed as quickly as possible, feeling slightly better once she was clothed and secure and not in any danger of any further leakage.

Only it did nothing to change the fact that she wasn't pregnant.

"You okay?" he asked as he left the bathroom.

She shrugged as casually as possible, wondering if he was disappointed. Or if he even realized that women don't have their cycles when they're pregnant. "Just the usual monthly unpleasantness."

"At least we're not on the road, though." He said, "And we're probably not going to be attacked or anything. So the timing could be worse."

Lina looked at him, blurting out before she could think otherwise, "So, you're not disappointed?"

She regretted it as soon as she had said it. "Disappointed? Why would I feel that way?"

She closed her eyes, "Because there's not going to be a baby."

The words seemed to hang in the room. Slowly he sat down beside her, "Were you wanting to have one?"

"You were, weren't you?" she fired back, "Hell, you ran off with a family of fish people for a week because you wanted to be a father so badly! Fish people!"

He stared at her incredulously as she continued, "I mean really Gourry, fish people! You put up with that smell for a week just to experience fatherhood and now you're saying you're not disappointed…"

He put a hand on her knee, "I didn't say that."

"But you're not disappointed!" Lina charged on, angry that she was more upset over it than he was, "I can tell!"

"Well, no." he said. Lina felt a rush of anger so powerful that she could have slapped him. "I'm just too happy to be disappointed."

"Happy!?" Lina screeched, "How could you possibly be happy? What is there to be happy about?"

He put a finger to her lips, "That you're so disappointed." Then he sang, "Because that means that you want to have a baby with me."

She wanted to hit him. She wanted to hit him so badly for being right. It was okay for him to want it, but how badly she wanted a baby scared her.

"I've got to go." She muttered. In an instant he had grabbed her and was holding her tightly.

"I love you." He said.

She struggled against him, "I'm going to punch your lights out if you don't let me go!"

He loosened his grip on her, "We need to have this talk, though, don't we?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Sit down." He said gently.

She stared at him warily. He sat down on the bed. Eventually she joined him. He put a hand on hers. "Is it really a good time?" he asked.

"What?" she replied.

"Well, it's like Zel said. You're very powerful, but our baby might not be. And if the plague returned before we found a cure then it would be at risk."

"But even if I were pregnant, it would be months before the baby would be born." Lina countered, surprised at just how badly she did not want to wait, "I just feel that Zel would find something by then."

"I just don't think I could stand it, to have a baby and lose it." Gourry said, "Not after losing my family."

His words chilled her. She thought about nursing him through the plague, about the horrible moment when she thought he was dying. She thought about how much worse she would feel if it was her own child, someone she had carried inside of her. Swiftly she got up and grabbed a book and flipped to the index. "Lina?" he asked.

"Sterility spell." She explained, "It's reversible for when Zel finds a cure. But in the meantime, there won't be a baby."

She found the page she needed and checked the chant. It was simple enough. But performing it seemed wrong. With the population so decimated, actively preventing herself from becoming pregnant just didn't seem right. "But this is just until Zel finds a cure." She clarified.

He held her hand, "I'll offer to help him. Though, I don't know how much use I'll be."

She smiled, and then she cast the spell. She read through the chant to undo it, taking a moment to memorize it just in case something happened to the book, though she was sure that Amelia or any other priestess would know the chant. "There." She said, "Now, let's get breakfast."

"You're on." He said as he started to dress.

Lina still felt disquieted, as though there was something fundamentally wrong with interfering with nature after all of the death that had occurred in the past month. Considering how she was used to wielding inhuman power so casually, she was not used to the incongruence. "I'm still surprised at how patient you can be about this." Lina said.

"If something is worth having then it's worth waiting for the right time." He said. "I mean, I waited for years for you to be ready for a relationship."

"Except for that time when you ran off with the fish people."

He ruffled her hair, "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

* * *

The morning they were going to leave initially started well. Gourry had been given a clean bill of health the previous evening and was declared fit to travel. Lina's powers were mostly recovered and she wouldn't be too inconvenienced by her cycle. A wagon had been prepared and loaded with food that they hoped would last the journey. Lina had had time to carefully consider which books to take with her and which to leave behind. For the first time some of those books included studies on dreams. Not that anything within could explain how she witnessed Gourry's dream.

They demolished breakfast with their usual gusto. Lina ate even faster than usual if that was possible. She was anxious to be on the road and it felt hard to stay still. As soon as she finished she was terrorizing the others about finishing their meal and getting a move on and, one by one they gave in to the inevitable, with Daris being the lone holdout. And Lina was certain that he was doing it on purpose.

"I don't know what your rush is." Daris said as they made their way to the stables, "It's not as if we'll get there a day earlier if we leave five minutes earlier."

"I'm just tired of parking my ass here doing nothing!" Lina snapped as they left the palace and headed towards the stables.

"Is something burning?" Gourry asked.

"What are you talking about?" Lina snapped.

What happened next came so quickly Lina could barely process it. He pushed her, hard. She shut her eyes as she tumbled to the ground and she heard the sound of something crashing, the burn of heat, followed by screams of "fire!"

Fear ignited within her as she opened her eyes to see Gourry pinned under a burning beam. "Mos Varim!" She yelled as she scrambled to her feet, the dawning realization that he had pushed her away giving birth to a feeling of guilt as she extinguished the flames. Zel moved to help her get the heavy beam off of him and Amelia and Sylphiel knelt beside him to examine his injuries while Daris watched uselessly.

Lina knelt by his other side and grabbed his hand as people started to pour into the courtyard. Dimly Lina was aware that Zel had run off to coordinate efforts to extinguish a fire in the north tower. She was too focused on the burns covering Gourry's body to worry about the fire. He was breathing, though, even if he was unconscious. Amelia started chanting something. A Resurrection spell.

"We need every hand we can get!" someone yelled, and Lina tore her gaze from Gourry and to the north and felt her breath catch in her throat. It wasn't just the palace that was on fire, but the city itself was burning! Indeed, Lina wondered how it was possible that such a large fire had gone undetected for so long. Were they under attack? Had the cult found them?

"Is he going to be all right?" Lina asked.

Sylphiel nodded as Amelia continued chanting. Lina leaned forward to plant a kiss on his forehead and squeeze his hand. "You idiot." She whispered into his ear, "But I love you for it."

Reluctantly she tore herself away from him. It looked as though they had extinguished the fire in the north tower, but if they didn't get the blaze in the rest of the city under control it would only be a matter of time until the palace, and everyone in it including Gourry, was at risk. Sylphiel stood up with her, and Lina noted that, rather than running off with Zel to help, Daris has hung around like a useless idiot with them. Clucking disapprovingly to herself, Lina stared at the fire. "Let's do this."

* * *

Seyruun burned for four long days and nights. What caused the blaze was a mystery. Neither Lina nor anyone else saw hide nor hair of an enemy. And Zel pointed out that with all of the storms it was possible that lightening had struck and burned a building, but with the population so small, no one had noticed until it was out of control.

Even with golems and spells to attack the flames, the fire spread faster than it could be contained. When at last the blaze was extinguished all that remained of the city was soot and the blackened skeletons of building with only the palace and a few other public buildings in the main agora mostly unscathed. Lina was covered in ash, tired, physically sore and emotionally numb from four days with little to no sleep. And heartbroken over the fact that it was going to be even longer until she made it home to Zefiel City.

Gourry placed an arm around her as they approached the stairs to the palace. He had joined the fight as soon as his wounds had closed, but before he'd had adequate time to rest. He didn't say anything, but he leaned against her slightly for strength, and she knew he had to have been even more exhausted than her.

They passed Amelia, sitting on the stairs, staring at what remained of Seyruun with an expression that went deeper than grief on her tear stained face. The only good thing that came out of the fire was the discovery of some twenty-eight people fleeing it who had never made it to the palace for one reason or another. They were thankful for each life, but devastated by the loss of their once great city and buildings. Lina watched mutely as Naga came up to her sister and put a hand on her shoulder. Amelia put her hand over hers as they stared forlornly at the ruins of the kingdom.

As Lina entered the palace with Gourry she was surprised to realize that she missed her sister. In all of the years she had been away she could not remember missing her, or at least, not that intensely. It was strange and painful all at the same time.

Quietly they made it to their room. Lina drew a bath, but Gourry was too tired to bother with it. Lina thought about prodding him so she wouldn't have to sleep next to a sweaty smelling ashy man, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. He needed the rest. Once again, she had nearly lost him. And if he continued to push himself too much, she worried about exhausting his life energy. Or even the plague returning if his immune system buckled from the stress. They still couldn't find out why it went away in the first place.

She sank into the bath, the water feeling good against her sore and aching muscles. She relaxed a little, but not completely. The knowledge that something could happen to Gourry was distressing. Of course, there was nothing new about that knowledge. They lived dangerous lives.

She took a deep breath and sank under the water until her hair was soaked. She broke through the surface and grabbed the shampoo and started to work it into her scalp. While she had suffered loss before, it had never been on this scale. While it was sometimes hard to believe her parents and sister were dead, at times like these it was easy. How could they not be dead? Everyone the world over must be dead, except for members of the Cult of Shabranigdo and the small band of survivors in Seyruun. And now even the city was gone.

If she lost Gourry on top of everyone and everything else that was gone, what would she have left?

She sank back under the water again and felt as though she would drown under the depth of her wants. The feeling of disquiet that had niggled at her mind throughout the week returned. She could temper it easily. At the time she had been sold on Gourry's argument that if she had a baby and lost it it would be too devastating for her. But she hadn't thought through what it would do to her if she lost him before they had a baby. She needed that reassurance that even if something happened to him, some part of him would continue to live.

She broke through the surface of the water. She needed to talk to him about it, but he was exhausted. He needed the rest. She got some soap and a rag and started to attack the soot and ash that clung to her. First thing in the morning, she would talk to him. And then they would head towards Zefiel City with all due haste.

And this time, she was not going to let anything get in her way.


	8. Chapter 8

"What is it that you want to show me?" Lina asked Gourry as he led her further back the way they had come than she was expecting.

"And ruin the surprise?" he said, his voice lighthearted but with a hint of mischief underlying it.

Lina stared at him, trying to figure him out. On the one hand, she was exhausted. Finally, they were on the road. It still did not change the fact that they were not in Zefiel City. Nor that traveling through ghost town after ghost town was not the thrilling adventure she was used to. It sapped her energy and spirits and made her prone to bouts of despair where she was certain that everyone she had grown up with was dead. It was hard to retain her optimism in the face of so much desolation.

At the same time, she was happy to get away from the group and to be alone with Gourry. So much that it was enough for her to ignore her exhaustion and continue to walk beside him, despite having spent the day on her feet.

The trees ahead parted, and Lina finally found herself standing with Gourry before a tiny pond nestled within a rocky outcrop. "I noticed it earlier, and thought it would be a good place to have a bath." He said as he wrapped an arm around her.

Lina smiled slightly as she kicked her boot off and dipped a toe in. It was pleasantly warm! "I'm impressed!" she said, perking up a bit as she undid her mantle, "How did you even see this from the road?"

"Well, it's important to know what's in your surroundings, isn't it?" he asked as he removed his armor.

Lina shed her clothes, leaving them at a pile at her feet, "And finding places for a late night rendezvous falls under important things to know?"

His clothes joined hers, and he slowly stepped into the water, "You looked like you needed some time away from the group."

"I did." Lina said as she joined him. He grabbed her hand, and led her so she was sitting between his legs, her back to his stomach. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on hers, enjoying the closeness. "Daris is still treating me as though I'm going to murder Sylphiel if I get too close. And she lets him! Did you see what happened when I tried to help with the drinks this morning?"

"I did." Gourry said, "He really overreacted."

"It's weird, they're traveling with us, but it's also like they're their own separate group, especially since they spend most of their time driving the wagon. And as soon as supper is over they just vanish. And Amelia has been taking this so hard. I keep trying to get her to cheer up, but it just seems impossible. I mean, cheer up, your father is dead, so are your subjects, and your kingdom is in ashes. And I can't think of anything to say to her that will make it better!"

Indeed, since the fire Amelia had been unusually quiet. She rarely spoke, and when she did it was in a flat tone of voice. She managed to pull herself together to make it through the day, but crashed as soon as they set up for the night and was difficult to rouse in the morning.

"Zel at least is Zel," Lina continued, "But I don't get why he doesn't even try to snap her out of it, I mean…"

"He doesn't want her to depend on him." Gourry said quietly.

"Why wouldn't he want that?" Lina asked.

Gourry thought for a moment, as if weighing whether or not to tell her. "The chancellor in Seyruun, and the people remaining in the cabinet, don't want Zel to be with Amelia."

"What?" Lina snapped.

"They say it didn't matter before the plague, but now with Gracia or Naga or whoever and Amelia the only surviving members of the royal line, they want to make sure they both have children. And Zel can't."

"Does Amelia know?" Lina asked.

"No," Gourry said, "And Zel doesn't want her to. He knows she'll stand by him, and he doesn't want to drive Seyruun into a civil war because of it. So he's going to find a cure for the plague and then stay away. Let her move on."

"Wow." Lina said, wondering whether or not Naga had any idea.

"Please don't tell Amelia anything, or Zel."

Lina felt strangely torn. Amelia had a right to know. At the same time, she could see Amelia, with her zealousness causing quite a storm over the situation. "Well, it puts some doubts into whether or not to stay in Seyruun." Lina said.

"Huh?" Gourry asked.

"I mean, the palace is still intact, and I had been thinking of settling there, if you're okay with it. With the bulk of the children who have survived having a high level of magic I figured they would need someone to teach them how to use it."

"That's true." Gourry said.

"But then if," Lina said, her voice faltering slightly, "If my folks are still alive then may be it would be better to stay where they are. Especially if Seyruun's cabinet is pulling stuff like this."

He squeezed her to him, "Wherever you go, I'll be there."

"I know." She whispered, a feeling of guilt tugging at her mind. Was now the time to tell him? He moved his hand between her legs, stroking the smooth skin he found there. She gasped, realizing that she needed to tell him now, but finding herself unable to. Soon she was swept away by the sense of pleasure he was so skilled at evoking.

They dressed in silence afterwards, both slightly nervous about the upcoming night. Sleep was no longer the welcome respite it had once been. "Try not to dream too loudly tonight." Lina said as they set off back to camp.

He wrapped his arm around her, "I can't help it." He said, "Just like you can't seem to help watching them."

Indeed, nearly every night now she was witnessing his nightmares. And not just about Hellmaster. Dreams where she was dead, or about things that happened with his family, or about fleeing from an unknown stalker, and once even about being forced to dress in drag in a city of admiring male suitors who all looked suspiciously like Volun crept through his unconscious mind at night, and she saw them all.

"Have you had any luck figuring out why you can see my dreams?" Gourry asked.

Lina shook her head, "If anyone else has ever done it, they didn't write about it. And I've been unable to find anything in the books about why it might be happening or how to stop it!"

Gourry thought for a moment, "Well, it's definitely strange. And it's a bit personal, but if it's you it's okay. I mean, it's not exactly harming anything, is it?"

"No." Lina said tepidly.

"May be it's just a sign of how connected we are."

She smiled and rubbed his back. That much, at least, was true.

* * *

Coming upon a town in her travels used to be a good thing that she looked forward to. Not anymore. It was easy to forget that most of humanity had perished while traveling through forests or plains. You weren't supposed to see many people in those places so their absence was less felt. No, it was walking through ghost town after ghost town that was agonizing. Where there should have been life there was empty buildings and the smell of rotting bodies.

Lina steeled herself as they reached the outskirts of Dallam. She took heart in the fact that it meant that they were finally reaching the border of Zeferia, but that was about it. She stole a glance at Amelia beside her, who walked quietly and stared at the ground. Lina had given up trying to work a conversation out of her. As usual, Daris and Sylphiel rode in the wagon. Gourry and Zel were bringing up the rear, deep in conversation that Lina could not make out.

Lina sighed, "I wonder if I just kicked Sylphiel out if I'd have some time in the wagon."

Amelia did say anything.

"I mean really, why should we tire our legs out day in and day out while they carry on, lazily, letting the horses do all the work?"

Goading Amelia into badmouthing Daris was not working. Lina sighed, thinking about how she had never taken a more miserable trip. Suddenly she was aware of Gourry moving so he was walking just behind her, "Something's not right." He whispered.

"Huh?" Lina said, and then she scanned her surroundings. The town was very picturesque, with brightly painted buildings in blue, yellow, green and red. The cobblestone streets were well crafted and a fountain in the middle of the town still ran. Only a few things marred the picture. The amount of overgrowth that showed that nature was ready to reclaim what humanity had carved out for them, and the absence of the townspeople. Goosebumps starts to form on her neck, but then, that was common enough. There was something eerie about walking through an empty town.

"We're being watched." He said.

"From where?" she asked.

"The buildings."

Just as he said it the sound of shattering pottery resounded from one of the houses. "Survivors?" Lina said.

Amelia was roused now and paying attention. "Mr. Gourry's right, there are people staring from the windows."

Lina's heart started to race. Was it possible that a whole village had somehow survived? Yet the smell of death was just as strong here as it had been everywhere else. Or perhaps all of the survivors from the surrounding towns had gathered here. "Hello!" Lina called, "We're here to offer assistance!"

Silence answered her. The wind rushed through the town like a ghostly echo. Lina swore she could hear floorboards creaking. She looked at the windows and saw still, black outlines of people. "Is it me, or are they unnaturally still?" Lina asked, a leery feeling in her gut.

"Whoa." Daris called, slowing the wagon down. Lina stared ahead and saw a crowd of people blocking the entrance out of town. A huge crowd of people. Unbidden, a horrible memory of encountering such a crowd during a different adventure rose in her mind.

The group stopped, and Lina assumed a defensive stance. Beside her she noticed Gourry putting a hand on the hilt of his sword. Something about the crowd did not seem right. The smell of death and decay grew stronger the closer they drew to them. A lone figure stood ahead of the crowd, and as his features became more distinct a feeling of disbelief grew within Lina. It couldn't be!

But then, Gourry was still alive. Why not Phil?

Amelia let out a sob and ran forward to him. "Amelia!" Lina cried.

"Daddy!" Amelia cried, running with her arms open towards him. But a feeling of unease grew within Lina. There was something empty about the way that Phil was staring at her. There was none of the boisterous, booming love and pride that marked Phil's interactions with her.

"Amelia, get back!" Lina yelled as Zel ran past her, following Amelia.

Phil, or someone who appeared to be Phil, lifted his arms as Amelia ran to him, lifted them high as Amelia reached him. But just as she was about to throw her arms around him, Zel grabbed her by the waist and turned, shielding her from the blow that Phil landed on his back, sending both of them sliding away.

"Get off me!" Amelia screamed, pushing Zel away from her as Lina finished casting a sleep spell. But Phil and the people behind him did not sleep. They remained standing, their eyes open but blank. Gourry unsheathed his sword as Amelia got up and ran back towards Phil.

Lina ran after her, Gourry close behind as Zel started to get back on his feet. Amelia reached Phil as he raised his hand and slapped her, hard enough to send her falling to the ground. Phil kicked her in the ribs, and Amelia curled into a fetal position to protect herself.

"Diem Wind!" Lina cried, causing Phil to fall back a bit towards the mob as Gourry knelt beside Amelia and helped her get to her feet.

"We need to get her to the wagon." Gourry said.

Lina, Gourry, Zel and Amelia made it easily to the wagon. Amazingly, the mob just stood there and watched. As the group climbed into the back Daris said, "This wagon really isn't big enough to carry all of you."

"Shut up and plow ahead!" Lina ordered.

"Don't hurt any of them!" Amelia protested, her voice a bit weak.

Daris yanked on the reigns and spurred the horses onward and they started to race out of town. But soon the horde of people was upon them, charging at the wagon. Lina was stumped as to what to do as she struggled with a sense of déjà vu. Using one of her big spells would undoubtedly take care of them, but it would also destroy them. And if there was a chance that they were alive, that would be bad.

But if they were dead puppets, merely animated by life energy like Rubia, then destroying them would be an act of kindness. But before she could fully think through her options, the horde had thrust against them so forcefully that the wagon toppled.

Lina felt a squeezing sensation as a body pressed against hers, and it took her a moment to realize that Gourry was shielding her as the wagon turned. Shortly he got up, and Lina followed him, feeling shaky but fine. They glanced quickly at each other and at the mob of people who had just toppled their wagon and started to run towards the cover that the buildings offered, the fact that they had seen shadows in them earlier a distressing thought at the back of her mind.

Still, they needed to regroup and consider their options. Lina ran into a barn, Gourry close on her heels. She grabbed his hand, "Levitation!" she chanted as she steered them up into the hayloft. Gourry found the ladder and pull it up into the loft just as Amelia and Zel joined them. A quick survey of the tiny hayloft assured Lina that they were the only ones there.

"Everyone all right?" Lina asked.

"Where did Daris and Sylphiel go?" Gourry asked.

Lina looked down at the ground. Someone was entering it. Lina shivered as she realized it was Phil. Amelia made a strangled choking sound and turned to face the opposite side of the building. "I guess we got separated." Lina said.

Zel was looking out of a window that overlooked the wreckage of the wagon. "They survived the crash. They're not tangled in the wreck at least."

"Any sign of them?" she asked.

"None." Zel said, "But there's at least a hundred of whatever those things are keeping watch."

Lina shuddered, "Everyone okay?"

She regarded each of them and realized that Gourry was bleeding, "Here." She said, helping him settle down while she cast a healing spell.

Amelia sat in the corner casting her own spell, and not for the first time Lina wished it was as easy to heal mental wounds as it was to heal physical ones. Grimly, Lina started to wonder just how much more Amelia would be able to take.

"Lina," Gourry asked quietly as he regarded Phil, who was standing in the barn looking up at them, "What are those?"

"I can think of two possibilities." Lina said, "They could be dead bodies reanimated. Or it could be a progression of the plague. Zel?"

"They certainly don't smell like they're alive. Either way, for someone to be able to reanimate an army of the dead like this, they would have to have power beyond what a human could have. A progression of the plague, perhaps?"

Lina nodded, "Where did you bury the dead?"

"In a grave on the outskirts of Seyruun." Zel replied.

"There wasn't a family tomb for Phil?" Lina asked.

Amelia started to sob. "We didn't have the manpower to open it." Zel explained, keeping an eye out of the window, "And Phil insisted before he died that we focus on the living."

"But then, how did he end up here?" Lina mused aloud.

"And why are they here?" Zel added, "It's been at the back of my mind for a while, but I don't think that someone wants us to get to Zefiel City."

Lina thought for a moment, "Me too."

"But why?" Gourry asked.

"I guess we won't know that till we get there, will we?" Lina said as she finished healing his wounds.

"But how are we going to do that?" he asked.

"I'm going to try something." Zel said as he opened the window.

"Mr. Zelgadis…" Amelia breathed nervously.

"Levitation." He cast, and he started to soar to the outskirts of the city, only to be driven back as blue orbs of energy were released by the crowd and into the air.

"Had a feeling something like that would happen." He muttered as he climbed back in through the window.

"This is feeling very familiar." Lina said.

Zel nodded, "Only the ghosts of Sairaag didn't smell."

"Best course of action would likely be to cast a Dragon Slave and make our way forward." Lina said.

"Miss Lina, you can't!" Amelia protested, "They could be sick, we might be able to rescue them!"

"Amelia, they smell of death!" Lina said, even as her conscious prickled. What if it was a progression of the plague, and it could be reversed? What if there was a possibility that they could get their world back?

"You can't!" Amelia insisted, moving towards her, "I'm going to find a way to cure them! Starting with my daddy!"

"Amelia!" Lina said, but it was too late.

Amelia levitated down so she was face to face with Phil. If he recognized her as his daughter in any sense he did not show it. He merely stared at her expressionlessly as Amelia started to chant a purification spell.

"Oh brother." Lina said.

"Strange, he's not attacking." Gourry observed.

"Should we knock her out with a sleep spell and make a break for it?" Lina asked.

"We still don't know where Daris and Sylphiel are."

"Damn." Lina said. "And it's starting to get dark too."

"We seem secure enough here." Zel said, "As long as some of us are up to keep watch we should get what rest we can."

Amelia continued to chant purification spell after purification spell as Lina drifted in and out of consciousness in what was an uneasy sleep, resentful over the fact that had it not been for the mob, she would be in Zefiria. At some point Lina was aware of Zel finally coaxing Amelia into the hayloft to get some rest. When morning arrived Phil was still standing in the barn, apparently not tired by standing as still as a statue all night.

Lina, on the other hand, was feeling irritable. She'd not eaten since lunch the previous day and she'd not slept well, and what should have been her breakfast was lost among the wreckage of the crash. And she was no longer on her way to Zefiel City. They should have been in Zeferia, but now they were stuck in a hayloft so close to her homeland's border that the mere fact that she was not there was painful.

Lina watched Amelia resentfully as she slept deeply, the shock having depleted her energy. Zel was down at the entrance to the barn, examining Phil. "Wake up, we've got to go." Lina said, shaking Amelia harshly.

"Leave her be, Lina. She's had a bad shock." Gourry said quietly from the window where he was keeping an eye out for any signs of life.

"She needs to get over it and we need to get moving!" Lina said as she shook Amelia harder to no effect. Anger surged, and she lifted her hand to slap her, only to have Gourry grab it.

"We can't leave right now, we don't have the full group." He reminded her.

"I know that!" Lina screeched as she kicked him in the shins. She pulled her hand away, but sat down and started to sulk, glaring resentfully at Amelia from time to time. Gourry resumed his spot at the window.

As the morning drew to the afternoon, it was hard not to think about how one good Dragon Slave would get them out of this. But then, could Lina really live with herself afterwards? It seemed a long shot that they could be saved, but still. Regardless of whether or not they were alive, they looked like living people. She thought back to the last time she was in Sairaag, when she thought for a brief moment that she had killed a child and shuddered.

Eventually Amelia roused and Zel returned, without being able to say anything conclusive about whether or not Phil was in some fashion alive or merely animated, and the group sat in a circle to discuss their options. "We could charge them, push through and then run like hell." Lina said, "That's what I'm leaning towards anyway."

"But what about Miss Sylphiel and Mr. Daris?" Amelia asked.

"I'm sure they'll catch up with us eventually." Lina said.

"Lina, I was thinking." Gourry said.

"Oh, this is going to be good." Lina said caustically.

"The only time they charge at us is when we head east out of town. They were standing down when we started east to the barn, and Amelia and Zel were down there for some time with Phil without being attacked. What if they just want to stop us from heading east?"

"Well, as east is where we need to go, we still have a problem." Lina said. "We're wasting time talking about it."

"But Lina," he continued, and irritation surged through her as she punched him.

"Every minute we spend arguing about this is another minute we waste! Are you too stupid to understand that we should be in Zefiria right now, and instead we're stuck here? What's the deal with wasting my time about what these things want? And you're supposed to be on my side, Gourry!"

"Gourry does have a point," Zel interjected, "Think, Lina, Zefiria isn't just the only place that Dallam is at the crossroads of."

"I'm well aware of that!" Lina spat, "Dallam is famous for the sheer amount of roads that link here. Zefiel City, and if you head north then…"

Lina's voice trailed off as she cupped a hand over her mouth while Zel regarded her calmly as Gourry started coughing. "The Kataart Mountains." Lina whispered. "And the Cult of Shabranigdo."

"Huh?" Gourry said.

Lina shook her head, "A piece of Shabranigdo is supposed to reside in the Kataart Mountains." Lina felt a stone weight form in her stomach, "We need to head north."

Silence fell upon the group for a moment, broken only by a harsh, coughing sound. Lina looked up at Gourry in alarm as a new worry grew within her. It was a familiar throaty cough that she'd heard all too many times during the past two months. Lina froze as guilt erupted within her as she remembered how horrible she'd been all morning, how she'd even punched and kicked him! She put a hand to her mouth as he continued to cough and she wondered how she could have forgotten, how she could have possibly endangered his life again.

She moved towards him and put her hand on his forehead. It was warm, "When?" she demanded, "When did it start?"

"Mr. Gourry…" Amelia breathed as Zel moved beside her.

"I don't know." Gourry said, "I mean, it's not like I slept well and I'm hungry, so…"

"So you didn't realize the fever was back until now?" Lina asked, a hint of hysteria in her voice.

"Stick out your tongue." Zel said quietly. Gourry complied. Lina felt her throat expand as she saw the rash that lay on it.

Tears started to form in her eyes as she pulled him to her, "I'm sorry," she started babbling, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, how could I when…"

"Lina," he said, alarmed, "It's not your fault."

"It is!" She insisted, "You got better because I promised her I'd treat you better! And I forgot, I blew it again, and now you're paying for it."

"What are you talking about?" he asked as Zel and Amelia shared mystified glances.

But she couldn't explain about the dream and the conversation with the Lord of Nightmares. Not then. The sense of failure and grief was too much. She'd blown her third chance! What was the likelihood that she'd be given a fourth? She'd been given so many chances and she still couldn't stop treating him like a punching bag! Perhaps it was true that she didn't deserve him, but as Lina wondered bitterly while she held him, why was he the one paying the heavy consequences?

**AN: This chapter is for brendala, for repeatedly bugging me about how this fic needs zombies. **

**And it's not unheard of for me to attempt to dream to problem solve (it's one of the best ways to do calculus, I swear!) While attempting to overcome writer's block and before going to bed one night, I told myself I needed to have a good nightmare so I could pull material from it to use for this chapter. My lovely little unconscious mind did just that, in the form of me dreaming that I was known as the worst Slayers fanfic writer ever. Stupid unconscious mind!**


	9. Chapter 9

Lina's hands trembled uncontrollably as she made a makeshift bed in the hay and helped Gourry get settled into it. The thought that she could not go through watching him fight the plague again kept torturing her mind, followed by the sheer unfairness of the fact that she would have to. She wasn't leaving him. Besides, despite what everyone else was saying, she knew it was her fault.

But as he warred with another round of painful coughing, the feeling that nothing she had done could justify him going through this rose within her. In a panic she remembered how the disease got worse and more painful as it progressed, and they had so little supplies with them! She wasn't even sure if Zel had brought the lotion.

She glanced out the window. Zel and Amelia had left to raid the wagon for water, food and supplies, banking on the observation that the mob seemed to do very little unless they actually tried to leave the town. She hoped that they would bring back something helpful as she pulled a blanket from her mantle and covered Gourry with it.

He put a hand on her arm as the coughing quieted, "It's not your fault, you know."

Lina shook her head, "When you got better I had a dream. Only it seemed like more than a dream, if that makes sense. And the message was clear enough, treat you better or lose you. And when I woke up you were healthy."

She brushed his hair from his face, "And then things started happening, we started remembering what happened during the whole mess with Phibrizo, and I started seeing your dreams. And we never could find a reason you were healed. What else am I supposed to think?"

"But Lina, do you really think I would have stayed with you if I thought I was being treated badly?" Lina looked up at him.

"Gourry, I practically used you as a punching bag for years."

"Lina, you're two heads shorter than me. Do you really think you could hurt me that much?"

"It doesn't mean it was right of me! I meant to hurt you!"

She bit back tears as he continued, "And I liked getting a rise out of you. Well, most of them time." She smiled a little in response as he continued, "Sure, you're hard on people when they mess up, but you're also the first to say good job when they succeed, and you're really good at pushing people to do things they never thought they could do. I mean, before I met you, I never thought I could save the world. But now I have, many times! And it's because you believe in me, and you got me to believe in me. My world grew so much when I met you."

She was quiet for a moment as she stroked his face, "It still couldn't have been easy being with me."

"Well, you don't do anything by half measures. You're intense. It's fun to watch, actually. But sometimes when you're around someone so intense you get burned. But your heart has been in the right place. In the end you do the right thing. I left my family because I couldn't stand how they were treating each other. They only thought of themselves and their wants. What makes you think I would stay with you if I thought I was being poorly treated?"

"You left once with that fish family." Lina shot back.

"Oh, that?" he said, "What was I supposed to do? Tell that little boy that his mother was a liar? It really didn't have much to do with how you were treating me. Just like this plague. May be this was just beyond your control and you're seeing connections between random things. Amelia hasn't done anything that caused Phil to die and come back like that."

His eyes drifted down into the barn where Phil's body was silently staring at them. Gourry shuddered and grabbed her hand, "Lina, I need you to promise me something."

Lina straightened a bit, and while she didn't want to deny him anything she also knew instinctively that she wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "What?"

"I don't want to come back like that." He said, indicating Phil with his eyes.

Lina felt as though her stomach had turned to ice, "Gourry, I can't talk about this…"

"I have to talk about this!" he countered, his expression uncharacteristically serious as the window opened and Zel and Amelia clambered in with supplies. "If I die I don't want to come back like that and do anything that would hurt you!"

Lina shook her head and she fought back tears. He started coughing as Zel and Amelia tried to make themselves as little known as possible, which was difficult considering the size of the hayloft. Gourry took a deep breath and continued, "If I die, burn my body."

Lina felt a million protests rise within her. She suddenly understood where Amelia was coming from. What if there was a way to restore the bodies back to health? This warred with the horrors she had seen result from people who could not let loved ones go when they died. He squeezed her hand, directing her attention back to him, his voice frantic.

"Lina, promise me, if I die you'll burn my body. If I come back like that, if I did anything to hurt you…"

"I wouldn't even have a grave to visit you at, to lay flowers on!" she protested as she erupted into tears. The unfairness of it hurt like a screw being turned into a joint. Was anything she had done that morning really so bad as to have warranted this?

"Lina," he whispered as he sat up and drew her close, "Promise me."

She tried to stop the tears, but they kept coming. She wished she were stronger. She wished she could do more. The fact that she couldn't meant that she could not deny him this. Especially as she knew in her gut that she would ask the same of him. "I promise."

He stroked her hair, "Love you."

She squeezed him more tightly, "Love you."

He started to cough violently. Lina closed her eyes, hating this, hating that this was happening again! This was a battle she thought she had won! "Lie down." She said, her voice heavy as she helped him settle down. Soon Amelia was at her side, carrying a glass filled with liquid.

"Take this for the cough." She said quietly.

Gourry took it and eventually he settled down enough to drift into sleep. Lina sat with her forehead resting on her fingers, feeling too miserable even to ask how to scavenger hunt was going. She couldn't even revive her interest in why it seemed she was being diverted north. Her thoughts were consumed merely with whether or not Gourry would survive.

The afternoon wore onto the evening in an agonizing fashion. Lina ate only after having her arm twisted by Zel and Amelia, and even then it felt as though it was all going to come back up. Gourry's condition remain unchanged and he mostly slept. Eventually Amelia curled up into a corner to sleep and Zel walked up to Lina. "Get some rest." He said.

"I'm fine." She replied.

"The last thing we need is you working yourself up into a state like you did last time where you started seeing and hearing things. Not with a horde of animated dead bodies out there and an enemy who is somehow monitoring us. I promise to wake you if anything changes, just get some rest Lina."

Lina closed her eyes, feeling resentful of the fact that he had a point. She leaned over to kiss Gourry's damp forehead and squeeze his hand and then went to lay beside Amelia. Surprisingly she fell asleep faster than she would have thought possible. When she woke, it was with a start.

The loft was lit by Zel's light spell. Beside her, Amelia was still asleep. Lina shook her head in disbelief as she stared at the princess, the vestiges of the dream haunting her mind. It was such a strange dream and Lina wondered why she would dream such a thing. In it Amelia ruled over a kingdom of dead skeletons, grey rags clinging to their bones as they danced in a macabre spectacle. But no one was there to dance with Amelia. The feelings of loneliness emanating from her were powerful.

Lina puzzled over it a little bit, wondering why she would feel Amelia's emotions so strongly in the dream, just like she felt Gourry's in his dream. Lina's eyes widened as the explanation became clearer to her. She was in tune with Amelia's emotions because the dream had been Amelia's!

Lina stood up and brushed the hay off her clothes and walked over to Zel, lost in thought. "How is he?" she asked.

"About the same." Zel replied.

Lina stared at Gourry and took a seat, "Go get some rest. Go comfort Amelia, she just had a nightmare."

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"I just know. I'll talk to you about it tomorrow, but for now go to her. She needs you."

"She's going to have to learn to live without me."

"Dammit, Zel." Lina said, "Gourry told me what the cabinet is up to, are you really going to let them have that kind of say over your life?"

"He what!?" Zel exclaimed as he reddened, "Damn, if he weren't dying…"

"Knock it off." Lina scoffed, "Do you really think that jellyfish could keep a secret from me? If you didn't want him telling me you shouldn't have said anything to him in the first place."

Zel fumed for a moment and then said, "You weren't there that night after I was with Amelia. The chancellor reamed me and practically threatened that civil war would erupt in what was left of Seyruun should I continue a relationship with her."

"I didn't have to be there!" Lina said, "Do you think if you pack up and leave they won't just keep interfering in Amelia's private business! Because who she chooses to be with is just that, her private business!"

Zel's eyes widened a bit as Lina continued, "Hell, for the corrupt power hungry official this must seem a ripe opportunity to wield some influence by manipulating the surviving princesses. How much do you want to bet that they have a list of consorts they'd like to see wedded to Amelia who would be willing to do their bidding? How long have you been working with Seyruun again? They may be the White Magic capital, but they're still a hotbed of corruption. How much influence they have is going to be a bridge both Naga and Amelia are going to have to cross eventually. Might as well get it all on the table with early and set a strong precedence for them to back the hell off."

"I hadn't thought of that." Zel said.

"No, you were too busy bemoaning your body and how no one can accept you with it. Well, Amelia can." Lina said as she grabbed a rag and started to dab at Gourry's forehead, "And after that it's no one else's business. You can't let people bully and blackmail you. So go to her."

He smiled but made no move to leave. Lina groaned and pushed him towards Amelia, "Go, before I fireball you!"

He laughed a little bit, and then walked over to lay down beside Amelia. Lina kept her eyes focused on Gourry as her thoughts drifted back to the new revelation that it was not just Gourry's dreams she could see, but also Amelia's. So it wasn't just a shared connection she and Gourry had, but some new power she seemed to have developed. She wondered if she could slip into the dreams of anyone, and what the underlying factor was. Proximity? That would make sense.

But where did this new power come from?

Dawn broke, and Lina prepared a cold breakfast for the group. One by one they woke up, Amelia being the last to wake. As soon as she did Lina pounced. "Last night, you dreamed about ruling a kingdom of dancing skeletons."

Amelia's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

"Listen, I know this sounds crazy, but ever since Gourry recovered I've been able to see his dreams."

"What?" Zel and Amelia cried in unison.

Lina shared a look with Gourry, who nodded, "Sometimes I can even sense she's there and watching."

"But how?" Zel said.

"Damned if we know." Lina said, "That's part of why I never said anything."

"How did it start?" Amelia asked.

Lina smiled wryly. "I guess when he was cured. We both started remembering things relating to the incident with Hellmaster. So many strange things happened that afternoon."

"Like what?" Amelia pressed.

"Well, to start with, sometime after Gourry had developed the rash I saw a bright light and a dark figure rise from his bed. Next thing I knew I was unconscious and dreaming about being in a graveyard with the Lord of Nightmares and Martina."

Amelia's face had paled. "Miss Lina, someone was with you in the room?"

Lina laughed nervously, "Well, I actually thought it was Gourry's soul or something rising from his body. It sounds stupid, I know, but it felt like someone was in the room with me." Amelia drew her hand to her mouth, an indecipherable expression on her face such that Lina worried that Amelia was scared for her sanity and hastily added, "I hadn't slept much, I probably just hallucinated it."

Amelia shook her head, "This is important, which side of the bed was the figure on?"

"The side between the bed and the door to the bathroom. Why?"

"There's a secret passage in that room. There's a trapdoor in the floor beside the bed. If someone opened it and threw a light spell in, and then climbed up into it…"

"It would look as though a figure rose from Gourry's bed." Zel finished.

"And when I woke up he was cured." Lina continued as her thoughts started racing as everything seemed to fall into place. "And Zel found something in his blood. Meaning someone must have given him something."

"And I continued to find it even a few days after he was cured, in the same levels." Zel said.

"So he was continuing to ingest it." Lina said.

"But only my daddy and sis knew about it…" Amelia's voice trailed off for a moment before her eyes widened, "Miss Sylphiel, Daddy and I told her about that passage when Zannafar attacked, she knew about it! I can't think of anyone else who would!"

"Dammit! Daris and Sylphiel were there when I woke up. I believed them when they said they'd only been there for five minutes!" Lina said.

"Now that I think of it," Amelia added, "Miss Sylphiel was always giving him something to drink in the morning. I didn't think too much of it because, well, her history with him, but it was a little odd."

"And now that they're missing, Gourry is sick again." Zel concluded.

"We have to find them!" Lina declared.

"But why only save Mr. Gourry?" Amelia asked. "What about everyone else who was sick?"

Lina shook her head, "We can worry about that later, just find them! Every minute we waste talking about it…"

"Should we let them know we suspect?" Zel asked.

Lina thought for a moment as nervous desperation charged through her veins. It was a good question. "No, I want to see their reactions. Find them, and the first opportunity we have to meet again without them we can regroup and figure out where to go from here. But find them!"

Amelia clasped her shoulder, "We will."

And without further word, Zel and Amelia took off into the haunted city. Lina felt her heart pump fiercely. Part of her wanted to go with them and tear the town apart to help track them down. But she couldn't leave Gourry. His condition could change suddenly. Still, sitting back and letting others do the work was never something she was good at.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "How much of that did you understand?"

"Not a lot." He said, "But it sounds like you may have found a way to get me better."

Lina nodded, "Just hold on."

* * *

The morning drew into the afternoon, and the minutes dragged on. But while Gourry coughed so violently that Lina had to put him under a sleep spell, no rash appeared. Lina's thoughts flipped between anxiety over getting help in time and musings over why Gourry was the only one they had saved. Suddenly Sylphiel's constant look of guilt was starting to make a lot more sense.

Finally the window flew open, and Zel came in with Daris while Amelia soared in the Sylphiel. Lina breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to throw away pretense and tell Sylphiel to give him the medicine and fast, but he was not in danger of imminent death just yet. And she had to keep in mind that the fact that there was a larger conspiracy at work was painfully obvious. She couldn't risk losing any slim advantage on it.

"Where have you two been?" Lina asked.

"You were worried?" Daris sneered, and Lina felt her hatred bubble.

"We found them fairly close to the wreckage of the wagon." Zel said. "Daris was out with a head injury. We're lucky he's even still alive, if Amelia hadn't been able to cast that Resurrection spell when she did, he likely wouldn't have."

"And Miss Sylphiel sustained so many broken bones that she couldn't move and get help." Amelia explained.

"I don't remember what happened the day of the accident." Daris said, "But it looks like I must have gotten us to shelter before passing out. And as Sylphiel couldn't move…"

"So, you two are lucky to be alive." Lina said.

"Couldn't get rid of her that easily." Daris sneered.

"Enough!" Lina snapped, "In case you didn't know Gourry is dying, the plague came back! The only thing I want right now is for him to get better and stay better! Losing him to Sylphiel is the least of my worries, because right now I'm looking at losing him for good!"

Sylphiel looked at her and for a moment Lina wondered if in her anger she had given away the fact that they suspected them. But then Sylphiel moved in to hug her. Lina stiffened as her anger exploded and the urge to punch Sylphiel hard rose. Why was she putting her through this after all? Lina simply couldn't trust her anymore. Yes, Sylphiel had been severely cursed and handicapped. But none of that could explain why Sylphiel, the pinnacle of goodness, was slipping Gourry a potion that saved his life and failed to intervene when so many others were sick and dying. Or why Sylphiel hadn't given Lina the potion just in case they were separated. Or why, even now, she wasn't doing a damn thing to save Gourry.

Sylphiel pulled away and then considered Gourry, an indecipherable expression on her face. But she did not get a drink ready. Lina felt her nerves teeter. She wanted him better, now! Lina folded her arms and sat beside Gourry, brushing his hair from his eyes and avoiding contact with Daris and Sylphiel.

The afternoon wore on. The hayloft seemed especially crowded with the addition of two new people that Lina was having a harder and harder time tolerating. And if Sylphiel did have some magical cure, she wasn't doling it out. But then, Lina reasoned, they wouldn't want to blow their cover by giving it out and having him restored to health the moment they returned. His first 'miraculous' recovery had been remarkably orchestrated. Lina bit her tongue, steeling her resolve to wait until the rash appeared, hoping it would not get to that point.

Eventually Zel was pressing her to get some sleep, and she settled between Sylphiel and Amelia to do so. But sleep was hard to come by, until suddenly it was very easy.

* * *

Daylight was streaming through the slits of the barn when Lina woke. She bolted upright, appalled that she had slept so long without checking on Gourry. Lina rushed to his side, relief washing through her. No rash, that was a good sign. She put a hand to his forehead, and erupted into tears.

Gourry stirred, as did the other occupants of the barn. He grabbed her hand and pulled it from his head. "What is it?" he asked.

"Idiot. How are you feeling?"

He thought for a moment and smiled, "Better, now that I think of it."

"It's gone!" Lina said, "Your fever is gone. Stick out your tongue."

He did so, and Lina felt the relief pound through her, "So is the rash. It's gone!"

Zel wrapped an arm around Amelia while Daris said, "Looks like your super immune system kicked in again."

Was it Lina's imagination, or did his voice sound too deliberately casual? Lina resolved to think about it later as she pulled Gourry close, taking a moment to appreciate that he was going to be okay. There was a lot to think about, a lot to work out. But just for a moment she wanted to enjoy the fact that Gourry would live.

Daris was the one who interrupted her moment. "So what now?"

"Breakfast." Lina said, "Then we work on getting the hell out of here."

"Can't, can we, with that mob outside."

"We can if we go to the Kataart Mountains." Lina said, her voice heavy with resignation as she accepted the fact that it was going to be a long time yet before she would make it home. She focused on remaining thankful that Gourry would be by her side.

"What?"

Lina fought the urge to tell him to stop playing dumb. "That mob only attacks if we head east."

"Then shouldn't we continue east to see what it is they don't want us to?"

Lina wondered at his motives, if he was wanting to keep her from going to the Kataart Mountains until it was too late or if he wanted her there for some other purpose. "Unless it's a diversion to keep us from the true target, the Kataart Mountains." Lina explained. "And if there's any chance that the Cult of Shabranigdo is grouping there, then I need to get there because they could cause a lot of trouble."

Daris scowled. "What type of logic is that?"

"It's mine, and I'm usually always right." Lina said as Amelia nodded.

Lina studied Daris as he glared at her for a moment and folded his arms across his chest before he finally grunted a consent.

* * *

"So," Zel said as he leaned against the desk, "It would seem as if Sylphiel and Daris are behind Gourry's remarkable recovery."

Lina nodded in agreement as she sat on the bed beside Gourry. As soon as breakfast was over the group had packed up, salvaged what food and supplies they could from the wagon and tied them to the backs of the horses they had managed to find, and set off north. As predicted, the mob did not stop them. What was not expected was that the mob followed them. They kept their distance, as if keeping watch to ensure the group did not change their mind and start to head east. But otherwise they did not disturb the small group of travelers.

It was still as creepy as hell.

Add to the fact that Gourry was recovering and Lina was torn between worrying about pushing him to fast too soon and getting to the Kataart Mountains too late that by the time they had reached the inn Lina was feeling unusually frazzled.

"I slept so well last night that I suspect something was put in our food." Lina said. "Then she must have given Gourry the medicine while he slept, in an attempt to make it look as if he recovered on his own during the night."

"Either that, or someone used a sleep spell." Zel said, "One moment I was wide awake and keeping watch, the next I was waking up next to Amelia."

"But Miss Sylphiel can't use her spells, and Daris can't use magic." Amelia said.

"He says he can't use magic." Lina said as she stared out the window, thankful for the fact that the mob had settled a good distance away from the inn they had taken shelter in. Part of her was leery of letting her guard down around them. The other part of her was simply tired.

"But why would he lie? And if they had a cure this whole time, why didn't they offer it to us?" Amelia asked as she curled up into the chair by the desk. Fortunately the mystery of Gourry's cure had seemed to shake her from the depressive spell she had been under.

"That's the question, isn't it?" Lina mused as she checked the door. As usual, Daris and Sylphiel had retreated to their own room for the night. Still, Lina had charmed her room to make it impossible for someone to eavesdrop. It did little to shake her paranoia.

"You have an idea, though, don't you?" Gourry asked.

"I do," Lina said heavily, "I have a bad feeling that you are safe so long as I do whatever it is that Daris or whoever is pulling the strings wants."

"Huh?"

"First off, take Sylphiel. Why did the Cult of Shabranigdo curse her into silence? I can accept that she must have found out something about them and they don't want her spilling the beans, but why not just kill her? Considering they have nearly succeeded in committing genocide that the death of an additional Shrine Maiden shouldn't have caused them too much pause, and it would be a lot easier than keeping her alive and risking her somehow finding a way of talking or someone lifting the curse."

"And ever since that first failed attempt, Daris has been doing everything to keep Sylphiel from you, in the guise of protecting her." Amelia added, to which Lina nodded in agreement.

"So alive she's a liability to their cause, but as they've been keeping her alive they must have a good reason for doing so."

"To lure us someplace, likely." Zel said, "Since she's someone we know and trust, we were less likely to question things we otherwise would have."

"But Miss Sylphiel wouldn't do something evil." Amelia said, "I mean, this just isn't like her."

"Which begs the question of why is she going along with this in the first place." Lina continued. "It's a good question. Right along with why keep Gourry alive? There were hundreds of people stricken with the plague in Seyruun when they arrived, and they did nothing to help them. The only one they rescued was Gourry. Either Gourry has skills or powers that are of use to them, or they want to use him to get to me."

"It still seems to overkill to wipe out the entire population for this." Zel commented.

Lina shrugged, "I think there's a kernel of truth in something that Daris said, that the plague spread faster and was more deadly than they had expected. I'm wondering if they thought they'd even have more control over how they targeted it, but whatever it is I think that how quickly it spread was a big miscalculation on their part, and they've been struggling ever since to make up for it. I mean, if they had been a day later Gourry would be dead."

"Even so," Zel said, "This is a lot of work to get to one person."

Lina folded her arms across her chest, "That's what worries me."

The group was silent for a moment as each tried to think of a reason why someone would go to such trouble. "So, what now Lina?" Zel asked, finally breaking the silence. "Should we confront Daris and get the medicine and figure out what is going on in the Kataart Mountains?"

Lina shook her head, "Something else has been bothering me. You even just noted it, that we seem to have been under a sleep spell last night. Daris said when he met us that he was immune to the plague and he had grandparents who were sorcerers but never took it up himself. Once I tried to fool him into thinking my light spell was a fireball, but he saw through it. I figured at the time with his grandparents, maybe he knew the difference, but still. It takes a level of training to immediately spot the difference like that."

"So you think he's a trained sorcerer?" Amelia asked.

Lina nodded, "There's more. Back when Gourry was cured the first time, when I had passed out and was dreaming, I heard someone chanting outside of the dream. A man chanting. That dream was so strange that I didn't think much of it, but now…"

Zel smacked his head with his hand, "A medicine that is inert unless activated by a spell!"

"Exactly."

"What does that mean?" Gourry asked.

"It means that even if Sylphiel did have a bucketful of medicine, it wouldn't work unless Daris or someone else who knew the spell used it to activate the medicine to make it work. And since she is mute now, she can't perform it, and she can't teach us how to do so."

"So without Daris the cure is worthless." Gourry said.

"And I don't think that if we ask politely he'll tell it to us." Lina concluded.

"So you don't remember the chant?" Amelia asked.

Lina shook her head, "It seems like I heard it through a waterfall, you know? The more I think about it, the more the voice did sound like Daris'. But that's it. And if we confront them, then Daris could refuse to activate the medicine. Gourry would be in mortal peril again, and we would have lost our advantage."

"Meaning it's better to say nothing now until we get to the Kataart Mountains." Amelia said softly.

Lina nodded, "I have a bad feeling that confronting him now would paint us into a corner, so to speak."

"Looks like Daris is a villain." Amelia noted.

"Or it could be that he is being blackmailed himself." Zel said.

"In that case, someone somewhere would have to be keeping a close eye on him." Lina said. "Gourry, have you noticed anyone following us?"

"Not really." He said.

"For now, I'm operating under the assumption that he is not to be trusted." Lina said.

"So tomorrow we continue as if we suspect nothing." Zel said.

Lina nodded, "And I think Amelia and I need to find a way to corner Sylphiel for a little girl time."

Amelia nodded in agreement.

"What are your thoughts on the Kataart Mountains?" Zel asked, "At first glance it would seem as if the cult would not want us to go there, but the more I think about it the more it seems we're being lured there."

Lina nodded, "Keep your eyes and ears peeled. Because very little about this is adding up."

"At any rate," Zel said, "I think we've gotten as far as we can for the night. I'm ready to turn in."

"Night!" Lina said as Zel extended a hand to Amelia, who took it and together they left the room.

"Wow," Gourry said as they closed the door behind them, "It looks like those two have mended things since I was sick."

Lina smiled, not wanting to upset him by telling him she had talked with Zel, that she had told him that Gourry had told her about their conversation. Suddenly she felt the weight of things she wasn't telling him. She felt guilt, and while she was now sure that his survival was not dependent on her treatment of him, she also realized that just because they weren't linked didn't give her an excuse to lie or hurt him. She wanted to be a better person for him because she loved him. What other motivation should she need?

But she didn't want to cause a fight. Not now that he was better. And especially as while he was recovered, he was still far from safe. She grabbed his hand, "I guess watching us Zel realized all he had to lose."

He reached a hand out to stroke her hair, "I guess I'm glad that something good came out of this."

She pulled him to her and held him tightly, determined to make him feel just how much she loved him, as she hoped that both of them would survive this challenge.

**AN: Hey, check out brendala's art for this fic at **** . !**


	10. Chapter 10

"Honestly, I've never seen how you manage to pull off wearing white, especially at this time of the month." Lina said as she leaned against a tree while Amelia got out her laundry supplies.

"Well, when you're a hero of justice, your clothing naturally repels blood and dirt." Amelia explained matter-of-factly.

"And just what are you implying?" Lina asked. "Aren't I a hero of justice?"

Amelia shrugged, "Well, you do straddle the line a bit."

Lina scowled, "This is the last time I help Seyruun, then."

"And there you have it!" Amelia concluded, "A true hero of justice would help Seyruun regardless! Granted," she said, changing the subjected, "I'm surprised you're not washing rags with me. Our cycles usually sync up by this time."

Lina shrugged, "Well, considering that Gourry is only safe so long as I continue doing whatever it is that Daris or whoever wants, and considering that sooner rather than later most likely I'm not going to be able to keep on doing that, well, let's just say I'm not as relaxed as I look. And you know how stress wreaks havoc with my cycles."

Amelia considered her for a moment and then focused her gaze behind her. "Huh?"

Lina turned around and saw Sylphiel walking towards them from the inn, looking resolute as she held a small basket of laundry. Daris trailed behind her looking furious. Amelia started to blush as she stared at her blood stained rags in panic, "He can't…"

Lina shook her head and stepped forward as they approached, blocking Daris on his way to the river, "Sorry, girls only."

Daris glared at her, "I'm here to help."

"We don't need it, do we, Sylphiel?"

Sylphiel shook her head, an unusual look of defiance in her set features. Daris reached forward and grabbed her arm, "We'll just go further downstream then."

Sylphiel shook her head as she wretched her arm free. Daris was about to move to grab her again when Lina stepped in between them, "Back off!"

Daris glared at her, "If anything happens to her…"

"Enough with that!" Lina snapped, "Looks like she needs a break from you. Don't worry, we'll return her safe and sound."

Lina glared menacingly at Daris as she cracked her knuckles, hoping he would give her a reason to take him down as Sylphiel continued down to the river and sat beside Amelia. "I'll be keeping an eye out. Don't try anything funny!" Daris spat, but finally he turned and walked away.

Lina shook her head as she joined Amelia and Sylphiel, "Honestly, Sylphiel, why the hell are you with a jerk like that?"

Sylphiel shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears. Lina sighed as she glanced at Amelia. The opportunity to grill Sylphiel without Daris around had sprung upon them so abruptly neither of them knew what to do with it. Further, Amelia was the only one among them who could perform Resurrection, but Amelia's powers had dwindled to nothing at the moment, and if they had learned one thing from their disastrous first attempt to get information out of Sylphiel it was that doing so could be lethal.

"Okay." Lina said, "I'm going to list some deductions I've made. Don't say or do anything if I'm right. But if I'm wrong, shake your head. I mean, Daris said that you'd just get sleepy in that case. And if you just confirm things that we know, then you're not exactly giving us information, are you?"

Sylphiel grabbed her washboard and started to scrub her laundry. "I guess that means we're good to go." Amelia said nervously.

Lina nodded as she wondered where to begin, "Right. Okay. So, you've been giving Gourry a potion to make the plague go away, but it only works if you give it to him every day. And if a spell is performed to activate it."

Sylphiel continued to do the laundry silently, giving no sign that she had heard Lina. So far so good. "Keep an eye out for Daris." Lina instructed Amelia, "Speaking of Daris, he's a pretty powerful sorcerer."

Nothing from Sylphiel. "I mean, Resurrection surely must be in his toolkit."

Sylphiel shook her head. Lina's eyebrows rose. So White Magic wasn't his specialty? "Ra Tilt?"

Nothing. "So Shamanist magic is his specialty." Nothing. "Interesting. I guess it goes without saying that the whole boyfriend story is a cover." Nothing. "And we've not been diverted to the Kataart Mountains to keep us from troubling brewing in Zefiel City." Lina continued.

Nothing. Lina felt some measure of relief in the knowledge that they were on the right track, but all the same she wished she wasn't. Especially as she readied herself to throw out her next deduction. "And someone has some hair brained scheme about resurrecting the Demon King of the North."

Amelia gasped. Lina watched Sylphiel carefully, hoping she would shake her head. She didn't. Instead, she slumped forward, nearly toppling into the river. Lina and Amelia grabbed her and pulled her farther up the banks. "She's just fainted." Amelia said, relief lining her voice.

Lina looked towards the inn. Fortunately Daris had not noticed. She took a deep breath, unnerved just by how much she was shaking as Amelia started to wake Sylphiel up. Eventually her luminous green eyes fluttered open and she sat up. "Are you okay?" Lina asked to which Sylphiel nodded. Lina took a deep breath, "I'm going to assume that the answer to the previous questions was a yes. Damn. Are you ready to continue?"

Sylphiel nodded as she picked up her laundry. Lina's thoughts raced as she finally decided on a direction to go at, "Gourry is being kept alive because he has some special skill that this Cult of Shabranigdo can use."

Sylphiel shook her head, her eyes drooping and Lina could see she was fighting sleep. "Okay," Lina said as Amelia glanced nervously back towards the camp, "Then the cult wants to use Gourry to get to me."

But Sylphiel once again slouched forward as she fell asleep before Lina even had time to finish the question. Lina cursed as Amelia woke her again, finding that this method of pulling information from Sylphiel was extremely limiting and frustrating. "He's coming." Amelia said.

"Run interference and buy us some time!" Lina barked, and Amelia got up to intercept him. Fortunately, somehow Gourry and Zel had figured out what was happening and had reached him before Amelia did.

Sylphiel leaped forward and grabbed Lina's hands, her green eyes boring into hers as Amelia rejoined them. Lina suddenly felt as though she wasn't asking the right questions. What was she missing? Sylphiel opened her mouth, and Lina could tell she was attempting to say something. Lina was distracted from her lips to her nose as a trickle of blood leaked from it.

Lina clutched Sylphiel's shoulders, "Don't. Amelia can't perform magic right now. Don't risk it."

Sylphiel shook her head, her hands going through a series of motions as though trying to pantomime. Lina sighed in annoyance, this was getting them nowhere. She needed to narrow the focus on what it was that Sylphiel wanted to tell her. "This is about what the Cult wants with Gourry?"

Sylphiel shook her head. "Then this is about the Kataart Mountains?" Sylphiel shook her head again. "The plague, then?"

"Miss Lina, he's coming." Amelia said as Sylphiel shook her head again desperately. Sylphiel mouthed something again, wiping away the blood from her nose as she did. Something clicked, "Family?" Lina asked.

"I warned you!" Daris yelled as he approached the bank, trailed by Gourry and Zel, "I warned you not to question her! Look at how she's bleeding? Are you trying to kill her?"

"She's willing to take the risk." Lina said.

"I told you!" He yelled. "She nearly died the last time you interrogated her! And with all of you woman stricken with your time of the month it's not exactly as if you can perform a healing spell!"

"Well it's not as if you're giving us an opportunity to do it when we can use magic!" Lina spat as he picked Sylphiel up. Lina's stomach twisted as she wondered if she should prevent Daris from leaving with Sylphiel. But if she did that, what would happen to Gourry? Lina felt cold at the thought of what might be happening when they weren't around to witness it.

"Learn anything useful enough to risk her life?" Daris challenged as Gourry stood beside her.

Lina did her best to look as sheepish as possible, wondering if Daris suspected that the gig was up. "No."

"Stupid woman." He said as he carried Sylphiel off to the inn.

Lina was trembling as he left. "Sorry Lina, we did our best." Zel started.

Lina shook her head, "It was a long shot anyway. At least we know Sylphiel's trying to work with us."

"You thought she…?" Amelia asked.

Lina shook her head, "Couldn't rule anything out, could I?"

"Did you learn anything helpful?" Gourry asked.

"It confirmed we're in the right direction." Lina said before taking a deep breath, "And we know the cult's end goal now." She added grimly. "The resurrection of the Demon Lord of the North."

* * *

Lina recognized the dream in seconds. It was one of his recurring ones from when he was held captive by Phibrizo. The world around them was hazy, stormy and dark as he faced a vision of her, his sword raised and poised to attack. The feelings of coercion, resentment and hatred for what he was doing were so palpable as to cause her head to ache. He wanted to lower his sword, but he couldn't. He could no longer will his body, and it moved to the strings of an invisible puppet master. A puppet master who wanted him to kill her.

Her image held a defensive position as he moved to attack. His panic peaked, and he cried out to be stopped. Lina felt her heart lurch, wanting to remind him somehow it was a dream, that everything was okay. Her image faltered under his attack, and Lina knew what was going to happen next. In this dream he always killed her. If only she could change the outcome, make his blade turn into jelly…

And that's just what it did. Instead of slicing her throat, the blade turned into jelly and smeared her neck with the substance. Her image wiped at the gooey mess and held her hand to her face before shoving it in his, "Look what you did!" she exclaimed, "Now I'm a mess!"

The scene dissolved as Lina woke with a start. Beneath her ear she could hear Gourry's heart pound as his grip tightened around her. Both were silent for a moment as they sorted themselves out, but finally he asked, "How did you do that?"

"I don't know." Lina replied. "It was just a stray thought, but it became reality, well, as much as anything in a dream is reality."

"Well, I'm all for you doing that every time I have a nightmare." He said playfully.

Lina bit her lip. This power she had to see, and now perhaps control, dreams was baffling. Controlling dreams, nightmares really. Something about that was vaguely familiar. She got out of bed with a start as everything fell into place as she wondered how she could have been so dense. "Lina?" he asked as he sat up as she got out her mantle and started digging through it. "Can't it wait? Come back to bed."

"Just a sec." she said as she found the leather bound volume and opened it, the chant running through her head like an annoying song, mocking her with it obviousness. _Lord of the cold, dark dreams that terrify…_

"What's that?" he asked, finally capitulating to the fact that she wasn't going to relax for a while.

"My journal." She explained, "I've kept one since I started studying sorcery. It's a record of all of my research findings. It's the most valuable thing I keep with me."

He regarded her quietly as she frantically looked for it, her anxiety mounting as finding it was more difficult than it should have been. But then, she wasn't quite herself at the time, she wasn't as diligent about her journal as she typically was. Not for the first time she bemoaned the wasted opportunity. She had the infinite knowledge of the Clair Bible in her grasp, but stupid Gaav had interrupted. And then Phibrizo had kidnapped Gourry, and Lina couldn't even remember if she had bothered to record what precious little she did learn from the Clair Bible.

But finally she found it. Her writing was sloppy but the words were legible enough. "One who has dominion over all terrible dreams…"

Lina stared at the page for a few minutes, her body tired but her mind racing. Eventually she closed it and crawled back into bed. "Well?" he asked as he put a hand on her back.

"It sounds crazy." Lina said, realizing there was no way to say it without sounding stupid, "But it seems that the Lord of Nightmares has control over well, nightmares. And seeing as several years ago I cast a full powered Giga Slave and was possessed by her, well, what if I retained some of that power somehow? Or maybe channeling a full powered Giga Slave altered me somehow? And because of that I can see and control the nightmares of those around me?"

He didn't laugh. But then again, this was Gourry. And further, what other explanation was there? "But that was several years ago? How come you've only started seeing nightmares now?"

"I think," she said as she laid down and cuddled next to him, "That when you were dying from the plague, it brought back those feelings of grief and desperation that I had then, when I cast the spell. May be it awoke that power?"

Suddenly her dream when she thought he was dying made sense. Gourry grinned. "What?" she asked.

"Desperation?" he said.

"Don't tell me you don't know what that means." She said as she sat up.

"I know perfectly well what it means." He said, a teasing tone to his voice as he sat up to put his finger on her nose, "It means you love me a lot."

She opened her mouth to retort, and realized that she didn't have a good one. He took good advantage of the opportunity by pulling her close to kiss her thoroughly. She froze for a moment, caught off guard by the abrupt change from shop talk to romantic action. But it didn't take long for her to warm up and return the kiss as she pulled him to her. He moved his hands underneath her gown and then up to skim her sides until he cupped her breasts, his calloused hands squeezing her nipples. Only rather than pleasure she felt a stab of pain and she flinched in response as she took a deep breath, determined not to let it show.

Unfortunately he was too attuned to her for her to be able to effectively cover it up, "Did I hurt you?"

"Don't worry about it." She said as he stared at her, a feeling of nervousness rising within her. She shook her head, "The girls are just a bit sensitive tonight, so go easy on me."

He looked at her as if he was seeing through her. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

Irritably Lina pulled him close, "Fine," she said as she started to plant kisses along his jaw in the way she knew he liked and that was bound to distract him from what was or was not going on with her. It took a moment, but soon he was mewing in delight, and Lina could claim victory in the fact that observant as he was, he was also highly distractible, and in all the right ways.

* * *

The days seemed to drag on one after the other. Lina was exhausted. It was difficult to get going in the morning and during the day all she wanted to do was find a good tree to lay under and nap. Daris had clamped down harder on Sylphiel so that, despite the fact that they no longer had a wagon to hide in, it was all but impossible to get her alone and attempt to grill her again. And Lina was too scared about the possibility of Daris refusing to prepare Gourry's potion to push it. Lina worried about Gourry, her family, and the Cult of Shabranigdo's plan to resurrect the Demon Lord of the North.

One thing she did not have to worry about was missing where the Cult of Shabranigdo was holed up. The closer they got to the mountains, the more often they would approach the mob of plague stricken victims blocking their path. And in her gut Lina knew that they were guiding her to the cult in their clumsy, awkward manner. Considering that the Cult of Shabranigdo wanted to use Gourry to get to her, then they most likely meant for her to find them at some point.

If there was any hope that they might be saved it grew dimmer with each appearance. Their bodies were obviously decomposing now, and Lina was fairly certain that each time they ran into the group there were less and less bodies. Unfortunately for Amelia, Phil was still among them.

Lina got better at controlling Gourry's nightmares so that they ended swiftly. The only strange thing was that peeking into his dreams was no longer a nightly occurrence. As the weeks stretched on Lina was left with her own nightmare of an endless void that she quickly learned to end by filling it with comforting images.

Finally they reached the border of the Kingdom of Dils. Unsurprisingly, it was while they were in the ruins of Gyria City that they started running into demons. "I guess with the human population so withered there's been no one to prevent them from roaming out of the mountains." Zel said after they sat down for dinner in an abandoned inn after having finished a group of demons off. As it was getting dark, none of them were interested in continuing traveling with demons on the prowl.

Lina took a plate from Sylphiel, who quickly retreated with Daris to eat away from the group in their own room. Lina stared at the jerky, the dry, unappetizing hard tack, and the orange preserves and grimaced. Unfortunately they had lost of lot of their provisions during the wreck and the Kataart Mountains was a much longer trip than Zefiel City, meaning that there was precious little food left, and what was remaining was not appetizing. That, and Lina was getting tired of eating the same three things for every meal day after day. She missed having real and endless dinners followed with dessert.

But they were desperate to track the cult down as quickly as possible, meaning there was no time for hunting and as a result, they were skimping on food. Lina could not ever remember being so hungry while also so disgusted at the thought of eating. Gourry, meanwhile, was shoveling it down like nothing.

"I just can't figure out what sort of doomsday wish it is this cult has." Lina said as she pushed the food around her plate, "First killing off most of the population, then setting up base near the Kataart Mountains with all these demons running about, its nihilistic!"

"Well, considering what they want is the resurrection of the Demon King of the North, they would be." Zel said as he ate mechanically and without enthusiasm.

"Yet if Daris is to believed they are doing this to get the Dark Lord's mercy." Lina said and she took the plunge and tried a bit of the jerky. But something about it didn't taste right. It was revolting. She nearly spat it back out.

"And none of that still explains why they would want to keep Mr. Gourry alive." Amelia said.

Lina swallowed with difficultly. The food was only part of the reason swallowing was difficult. "You have a point."

Lina regretted the meat. She grabbed the hard tack and started nibbling on it, but it did little to ease the churning in her stomach. "But what are they even wanting you to do for them?" Zel asked, "It would seem they are wanting to blackmail you with Gourry's life, but the last time someone tried that it didn't work too well for him."

"Actually, it did. I did exactly what Hellmaster wanted. His mistake was that he didn't understand what the Giga Slave really did. Much as I hate to admit it, blackmailing me is a very effective." Lina said, her anxiety mounting so that eating seemed impossible, and she gave up on dinner and sat her plate down, worries over finding herself in a similar situation to the one that Hellmaster had put her in flooding her with fear. Gourry looked at her in alarm over the unprecedented action.

"You going to eat that?" he asked.

"Have at it."

He stared at her searchingly but grabbed it nonetheless. "But surely they don't want you to cast the Giga Slave." Zel said, cutting into her thoughts.

Lina shook her head as she tried to ignore the knots in her stomach, "That wouldn't exactly resurrect the Demon Lord of the North, would it? If that's their goal, I don't know how I could help them with it."

"Surely you must have an idea."

Lina smiled tiredly, "I have a dozen, each as inexplicable as the last."

Zel had opened his mouth to ask another question when Lina suddenly realized that the jerky was not going to stay down. "Excuse me." She said as she ran up the stairs and up into her room to relieve the meager contents of her stomach into the chamber pot.

Once finished she took a drink of water and decided that she was more tired than hungry. Further, all of the talk about what the Cult of Shabranigdo wanted her for was creating so much stress and anxiety that she couldn't bear to go down and discuss it further. Hoping that when she woke up she would feel better and calmer she started to prepare herself for bed. The door opened, and Lina turned to see Gourry come in, an unreadable expression on his face. "You okay?" he asked as he closed the door.

"Just a bit tired." She said as she started to unbutton her tunic while he sat on the bed. "I don't see how you were able to stomach that jerky. I swear its gone bad."

"Hm." He said noncommittally as she removed her top. Suddenly he grabbed her arms and pulled her towards him gently but firmly and stared at her naked chest. While she was used to being undressed around him there was something so raw and piercing in his gaze that seemed immodest, as though he was removing a secret from her.

"Gourry?" she asked as she blushed. "I just told you, I'm tired, I'm not up for…"

His eyes widened as he let go of her arms and he put a hand to her lower abdomen. "When were you going to tell me?"

Her heart started to pound. "What?" she asked as she moved her arms to cover her chest.

"You're tired, and even though you've stopped eating your clothes are getting tighter, and your boobs are bigger."

Lina grabbed her nightshirt and pulled it over herself and sat down beside him. "How does an idiot like you even know this stuff?"

He shrugged, "My mom and my aunts had a lot of babies." They were silent for a moment before he asked quietly, "When were you going to tell me?"

"I don't even know that I am! Not really." Lina said, "I mean, am I tired because I'm not eating? Or just depressed or…"

"But it's possible." He said, "You lifted the spell."

Lina looked away at the floorboards, feeling rather abashed. "I'm sorry." She said quietly as she waited anxiously for him to respond. When he didn't she started rambling. "I'm not sure what I was thinking. And I was going to tell you, I mean I kept meaning to, but I just didn't."

Realizing what a pathetic excuse that was, she closed her eyes and continued, "I just wanted something to look forward to, to be happy about, a reason for everyone to be happy, just some light at the end of this tunnel. After all of this death using the spell just seemed wrong!"

"Hm." He said quietly. Tears started to well in her eyes as the light at the end of the tunnel seem as distant and impossible to reach as ever.

"And then I got scared, what if I lost you? At least I would have a small person around who reminded me of you. Otherwise I'd have nothing and no one. I couldn't bear the thought of it! I wanted to know that even if…" her voice broke, and beside her she felt him stiffen. "I needed to know that even if you didn't make it some part of you would live on, that I'd have something more solid than our memories to cling to."

She desperately wanted him to say something. When he didn't she nervously asked, "Are you mad?"

He wrapped an arm around her. She couldn't bear to look at him, and when he spoke it was tense, "Don't you think we should find out for sure?"

"I don't know how." Lina said in a small voice, feeling very stupid.

"Does Amelia?"

Lina's anxiety inched up a notch so that she wondered if she was going to throw up again. She wasn't ready to let Amelia know. In all honesty she wasn't sure that she was ready to know. But finding out for certain what her condition was was genuinely the least she could do. "I'll go get her."

Swiftly Lina tracked Amelia down and brought her to the room she shared with Gourry. After placing a muting spell on the room so Daris and Sylphiel could not overhear, Lina turned to Amelia and said quickly, "I need to know if I'm pregnant."

Amelia's eyes widened and she grinned, "I was wondering!"

"Huh?" Lina said.

"You've been late and your clothes are tighter and…"

"Yes, yes." Lina said. "Fine, but how can I know for sure?"

Amelia smiled and put a hand to Lina's lower abdomen and started chanting a spell. Eventually the princess smiled as a tear trailed down her cheek. "I'm sorry," she said as she lifted a hand to wipe it away.

Lina frowned, baffled by Amelia's reaction. Were they wrong? "Sorry?"

"Oh, no, I didn't mean, I mean you are, it's just I couldn't help crying. After all of this senseless death, I guess I didn't know how much it would affect me to learn that there's a new baby on the way." Lina took Amelia's hand and squeezed it to let her know that she understood.

Lina felt Gourry come up behind her. For a tense moment she wondered just how mad he was, but as he wrapped an arm around her and hugged her and kissed the crown of her head she relaxed a little. So they were going to have a baby. Perhaps everything would work out after all. Amelia wiped her face again as the tears kept coming, "Do you want to know what you're having?"

"If Gourry does." Lina said.

She didn't see Gourry's nod, and hadn't realized he'd given a response until Amelia said, "It looks like a healthy boy."

Gourry squeezed her tightly with one arm while the other reached up to wipe his eyes. Amelia smiled, sensing their unspoken need to be alone, "I guess I'd better leave you two alone." she said, but not before hugging Lina and offering her congratulations.

"Amelia." Lina said as the princess headed to the door, "You can tell Zel, but don't tell Daris and Sylphiel. Or anyone else for that matter."

Amelia nodded, practically glowing as she put a hand on the door knob, "Understood!"

Once she was gone Lina turned to face Gourry, who had moved so that he was facing away from her and out the window as he said quietly. "Well, I guess you really should be getting some rest now."

Annoyance flared through Lina. Was he avoiding her? "How mad are you, then?"

"I'm not." He said quietly though he did not turn to face her, "I can't be, not about this. I've wanted it for so long."

"But I went behind your back and reversed the spell. Without telling you!" Lina insisted, "I mean, I'd be pissed. Go on, get mad!"

He let out a watery chuckle, as though he had been crying until he found to laugh at. He poorly attempted to hide the fact that he was wiping his face before he turned to face her. "You're going to do what you're going to do. It keeps things interesting." He moved so he could run a hand through her hair, "Besides, it's like you said, it's probably best it happened this way."

Lina frowned, wondering what he was talking about. "Huh?"

"Well, I'm only alive so long as I get the potion every morning, right?" Lina felt a chill go through her body at the look in his eye. Bittersweet tinged with resentment. "Though, I'd like to be there, to see him grow up."

He abruptly turned away again, and Lina realized he wasn't mad, but he didn't want her to see just how scared and sad he was. Considering he seemed to walk around carefree regardless of what was happening it was easy to delude herself into thinking that he had no idea just how close he was to death's door. She was so wrapped in her own worries about living without him that she'd never considered that he was carrying his own burden and worrying about what he would miss if he wasn't there anymore. Just as she was facing living life without him, he was facing death.

She moved and wrapped her arms around him, holding him possessively, her chest to his back. "Listen, I'm not going to let it happen, I'm not going to let you die! We've come this far, we've gotten out of worse scrapes, and I am not going to let it happen! You're going to be a terrific father, I mean, who else is going to show me the ropes on this parenting thing? You've got the natural talent for it, so I'm going to make sure that no matter what you stay by my side."

Her voice picked up steam and became more rambling and incoherent so that he gently turned around and wrapped her in his arms, and planted a kiss on her head, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything about that. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay. Besides, I'm supposed to worry about you."

She shook her head, "It goes both ways, you know. You're allowed to let me know what's troubling you."

"A man who helped me once said to never let the girl I fall in love with see my troubled mind." Gourry explained.

Lina chuckled. It reminded her of something that her father would say. Suddenly she missed him terribly. She rested her head on Gourry's chest and closed her eyes. "He really must have made an impression on you if you remembered that."

"He did." He directed them towards the bed, "Come on, you need your rest."

She sat on the bed and gripped his hands tightly, forcing him to look her in the eyes, "I just want you to know, you can talk to me about what's troubling you. I mean, you put up with my…"

He put a finger to her lips, "Please, Lina. Let me do this my way. May be I get something from doing all of this for you that you don't understand."

"What is that then?"

He smiled at her and reached his hand up to stroke her cheek, "Get some rest Lina. I promised myself I would always protect you. Just let me do that."

He didn't say "while I still can" but it hung in the air like an awkward, unwanted presence. Lina rapidly blinked away the tears forming in her eyes as she laid down, wondering if he wanted her to rest for her benefit or so he could have some time alone to sort himself out so that when he had to face her again he would be calm and able to soothe her, or a bit of both. Realizing that for whatever reason maintaining the protector role was important to him she climbed into bed and pulled the covers over herself.

She reached out to hold his hand and made a silent promise to not give up. No matter what the Cult of Shabranigdo wanted from her, she would make sure that Gourry made it through alive!


	11. Chapter 11

Daylight was shining through the dusty curtains like beams of hope when Lina awoke. She stretched and noticed that Gourry was awake and laying on his side with his head propped on his arm and showing no sign whatsoever of the storm that had gripped him the previous night. If anything, his smile was as bright as the beams of sun.

"Morning," he said as he pulled her close for a kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"Well enough," she lied, wanting nothing more than to roll over and sleep until the nausea abated, "How about you?"

"I'm good." He said, moving his hand to her belly, "How is the baby?"

She shrugged, "Fine as far as I can tell."

He favored her with his brightest smile, and for a moment it was easy to believe that everything would be okay. As she got up to dress Lina lamented the fact that her clothes were indeed getting tighter, and she had to loosen the buckle on her belt. While she doubted that Sylphiel with years of training as a Shrine Maiden hadn't noticed she sincerely hoped that Daris was clueless. All told, she was ready to find this Cult of Shabranigdo and end them swiftly before she got sicker and bigger.

When they met the group for breakfast she noticed Zel's eyes flash quickly to her stomach before he went back to drinking his coffee. Amelia was humming as she poured some syrup on her hard tack. Lina smiled a little. It had been a long time since she'd heard Amelia hum at breakfast. Sylphiel handed Gourry his drink and resumed her organization of the food supplies. If she noticed a buoyancy to the group that hadn't been there before she gave no signs of it. Fortunately neither did Daris as he scrutinized a map while chewing his jerky thoroughly.

Lina smiled to herself as she started to eat breakfast, feeling happy that the group had something to be happy about. She even managed to finish her breakfast and keep it down, and they quickly vacated the inn shortly thereafter. Daris and Sylphiel took the lead, walking far ahead of the group with the horses while Lina and Amelia took the middle, Gourry and Zel bringing up the rear.

For the next few days Lina alternated between feelings of elation and optimism to worry and despair. And attempting to conceal that she was feeling sicker and more nauseous by the day from the group was getting harder. She was ready to get this business with the Cult of Shabranigdo over with, and didn't want to risk Gourry or Amelia insisting they slow down to accommodate her if she let on just how ill she felt. So she tolerated it quietly, and if Daris noticed she was more irritable than usual, he likely ascribed it to the same depression that blanketed the rest of the group.

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked one clear and sunny morning, cutting into Lina's thoughts as they walked steadily on what was seeming to be an endless journey.

"Fine." She lied. Truly, though, she was getting sick of the question. Plus, she smelled a faint but horrible odor that made her want to hurl.

Amelia lowered her voice, "If we need to slow down…"

"We don't." Lina snapped, thinking that she had gotten herself into this mess and she could just tough it out. Still, the smell grew more pungent and at some point became identifiable. Lina groaned. "I think we're about the meet the plague's victims again."

Amelia stiffened, the bounce that had returned to her step since learning about the pregnancy fading. "Are you sure?"

Lina didn't even have to inhale that deeply, "Very."

Amelia composed her face so that it was deliberately neutral as Lina noted that Gourry and Zel had sped up so they were now directly behind them. "You smell them too?" Lina asked.

"Unfortunately." Gourry replied.

Soon enough a line of dead bodies could be discerned ahead, blocking their path. Only this time their right arm was raised and pointing them off the path. Those that still had arms at least. The group exchanged looks. This was new. Never before had the walking dead given them such firm directions. "I suppose this means that we're about to meet the puppet master." Zel said contemplatively.

Lina looked at Daris. Was it her imagination, or was there a tenseness in his eyes? "It would seem we are." She said.

He glared at her in response, "I guess we'd best get it over with then."

"After you." Lina said.

And the group followed Daris and Sylphiel in the direction that the line of plague victims indicated. Sick of the smell, Lina grabbed a handkerchief and put it to her nose, grateful that Sylphiel had done the same thing and several of the other group members were as well. Lina didn't even think that it would be a cause for remark if she ran off to vomit, but for the moment at least it seemed as though she was staying on that edge between feeling like it was going to happen at any moment with no follow through.

Amelia's sharp intake of breath was what alerted Lina to the fact that Phil's body was coming up in the line. She glanced once and then turned her head away. And she thought he was horrible to look at in life! His eyes were rotted out of his skull and maggots openly crawled through his skin. Lina finally left the group to heave.

Lina braced herself for the inevitable smart ass comment from Daris when she rejoined them, but it did not come. His lips were unusually white and his face drawn, as though he were too nervous to worry about what was going on with her. Was he scared about confronting her? Lina grinned at the thought. She was ready to take him down!

"Up ahead." Gourry said, and the group looked forward to see a fortress start to take shape in the distance just as they passed the last plague victim. As the group left them behind, there was a horrible squelching sound, and Lina looked back to see that the bodies had fallen to the ground in a heap of partially decomposed bones, tissue, organs and gore.

Amelia let out a strangled cry and moaned, "Daddy!" Zel wrapped an arm around her and kept her moving towards the fortress. Eventually he directed her to a large rock so she could sit down. Lina, happy for the break even with the arrival of the fortress, got out some water.

"We have to keep moving!" Daris snapped.

"Amelia needs a minute!" Zel snapped back as he sat beside Amelia and put a hand on her knee. "One of those bodies back there was her father!"

Amelia trembled violently as Daris grunted and folded his arms across his chest as he stared at the fortress, desperation shining in his dark eyes. The smell, thankfully, wasn't as bad here as they were upwind of the bodies, and Lina felt her stomach start to settle as she took some refreshing breaths of air. The knowledge that one way or another it would soon be over was comforting. She looked at Gourry, who had gotten out his sword and was putting himself through his paces, and she resolved once again not to lose him. She would be victorious.

"Just remember, Amelia." Lina said quietly, "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can unleash justice on the bastards who did this."

Amelia's dark blue eyes set, and resolve started to steel her features. "And when we're done we can go and give Daddy a proper burial."

Lina nodded, but privately thought that someone other than her would be tasked with gathering the remains. Amelia stood up. Lina could feel Gourry and Zel walk up behind them, and quietly they walked towards the fortress. Lina noted that it was old, but heavily fortified. But then, it would have to be to have survived this close to the Kataart Mountains and constant demon attacks. As they got closer Lina could see that the drawbridge was down and that guards stood before the door. It looked as though they had a welcoming committee.

Lina wasn't sure what she was expecting when she got there, but it certainly was not for the guards to bow down before her. "Miss Lina Inverse." A man with straw colored hair said, "Welcome. You're just in time. Follow me."

Lina and the group exchanged a befuddled glance. Lina was about to ask a question when Daris beat her to it, "Where's my son?"

_Son!?_

The guard's eyes flashed, "He's been well cared for, as you know. He's in the dining hall waiting for you, with the Priest."

_Priest!?_

"He'd better be." Daris threatened, "Or else I'll tell them!"

"Do that, and he will have bled out before you could pass this gate." The guard threatened as Amelia brought her hand to her mouth in horror, "The Priest has eyes everywhere, as you well know."

The guard and Daris glared at each other, the hatred between them palpable as Lina's brain raced to figure out what to make of this new development. So Daris wasn't the puppet master, but another pawn? Or was this part of an elaborate deception? And by Priest did they mean Xellos, or just a high ranking sorcerer in the cult? The guard sneered, "Follow me. The Priest awaits."

Gourry drew closer beside her, his hand on his sword. Amelia and Zel followed behind them, and by their posture Lina knew they were ready to spring into action the moment it was necessary. Sylphiel walked ahead, her shoulders rigid. Daris walked beside her, trembling. "Before you judge me too harshly," he said, his voice low and vibrating with barely suppressed rage, and for a moment Lina wasn't sure who he was talking to, the guard or her, "Ask yourself what you would have done in my place, when they hold the person you love most in this world hostage."

"So you sold us out?" Lina asked, keeping her voice as neutral as possible.

"Shut up or you'll regret it." The guard barked.

Lina thought about getting more information about the priest, but decided she would find out soon enough, and that any advantage she would have by knowing in advance of Xellos's involvement was small and not worth the potential consequences. Fortunately the guard soon came to a grandiose door and knocked before entering.

"Miss Lina Inverse and her companions." He introduced as Lina entered the room and the guard went to stand beside Daris.

Lina had barely enough time to register that the little old man sitting at the dining room table was definitely not Xellos before a high, piercing voice screeched, "Daddy!" A boy about half the size of Daris went running to him and wrapped his arms around him.

"Billy!" Daris breathed, the relief flooding his voice as he leaned forward to hug his son. And then the guard struck, grabbing Daris from behind and slitting his throat with a dagger.

Billy screamed as his father's body toppled over him, while in a second Gourry had moved to take out the guard as the group prepared to fight. Suddenly Lina felt a strange feeling in her stomach, not enough to hurt her but enough to disorient her. For a brief moment she thought it was pregnancy related, but then she saw that the rest of the group was equally affected.

"Fight," the priest said, "and you lose your only chance to save everyone who has been afflicted by the plague."

The guard who had killed Daris stood down. Gourry took a step back but remained alert and Lina glared at the Priest, who continued to speak in a gravely tone, "I'm not here to fight you, I'm here to negotiate."

"And you start by slaying a member of our party?" Lina yelled.

The Priest shrugged, "He knew too much."

"Like the chant to the spell that activates the potion for instance?" Lina said as Gourry helped Sylphiel and Amelia to lift Daris's body and free a hysterical Billy from under it.

If the Priest was put off his guard by Lina's knowledge, he gave no sign of it, "Exactly." Then he glanced at the guard, "Take the child away."

"What are you going to do with him?" Gourry asked as Sylphiel attempted to calm the boy.

"He won't be harmed." The Priest said.

"He already has been harmed!" Lina snapped.

"We can't send him off with the man who murdered his father!" Amelia added.

The Priest made a noise of resigned exasperation, as though he should have known to expect this, "Kenneth, bring Melba here to take him away."

"Yes sir," The guard, Kenneth, said as he left.

Gradually Sylphiel got Billy to calm down as Lina noted the food set out on the table. The bountiful food set on the table. Considering they had been reduced to the barest of rations for the past month, the food looked delicious. Yet there was something familiar about the set up that was bothering Lina. Finally a middle aged woman arrived, escorted by Kenneth. Billy went willingly with her, shock seeming to have replaced his earlier hysteria.

"Kenneth, the collateral." The Priest said.

Kenneth nodded, and left again, closing the door behind him.

The Priest turned to consider the group, and then he waved a hand before the feast set before him, "I apologize for that bit of unpleasantness, but you see I could not risk that young man's survival. Please, you must be exhausted from your journey."

The group stared warily at the food, and Lina guessed that they were all feeling the same mix of hunger and revulsion that she was. "You ask us to eat at your table after creating a plague that has damn well near wiped out humanity?" Lina spat, as she folded her arms, "How do we know it's not poisoned?"

Her stomach growled, betraying just how badly she wanted the food. The Priest shrugged, "Have it your way. Shall we get down to business then?"

"I'd like that." Lina said as she tried to ignore just how good the buttery yeast rolls smelled.

"My name is Raltaak." He said, "And I conducted you here, Lina Inverse, so that you may join us in reviving the Demon Lord of the North."

Lina held his gaze for a moment, and decided an outright refusal would not be the best strategy. "And how could I possibly help you with that?"

"For the past few years, you have been a thorn in the side of the monster race," Raltaak explained as Lina felt gooseflesh form on her neck, "One by one everyone who has set out to kill you has failed while Demon Lords more powerful than myself have fallen."

"So you're a Mazoku." Lina stated.

Raltaak nodded, "My associates, Kanzeil and Mazenda, had a good idea. Get you to join them. But you refused."

"You mean to tell me you're Gaav's priest?" Lina exclaimed.

"Was." Raltaak corrected, "I became convinced that Kanzeil and Mazenda had the right idea with you. Everyone who tries to kill you ends up looking like a fool. Your smarts were enough to compensate for your human frailties, and with it you destroyed beings infinitely more powerful than yourself. Attempting to kill you has become a suicidal action. But I reasoned that if we could get you to join us, become a Mazoku yourself, and you used those smarts with that incredible power that comes from being a Mazoku, then it would only be a matter of time before the monster race conquered the world. Only I had to find the proper way to motivate you."

Lina felt the nausea swirl within her, but did her best to keep it under control. She couldn't show weakness now! But she could see all too clearly where this was going. "And how was creating a plague that destroyed humanity going to get me to join you?"

"That was never our intention. We meant to target a single city in Zefiria. It was easy to conclude that as soon as you heard about trouble at home you would come racing back to see what happened to your family."

Anger, hot and molten rose within her as the room started to sway as he continued, "Only the strain mutated into something far more contagious and deadly than we could have anticipated. It worked as planned for a few weeks before it spiraled out of control. It was sheer luck that she fell into our hands and got to you before your paramour died."

He indicated Sylphiel, who was staring at the ground as tears ran down her face. Lina's lip twitched, "And how did you get her to do your dirty work for you?"

"We found someone she loved and told her he would be killed if she didn't. She became very attached to the group of healers in the relief party she came down with and we had our pick of victims. Their lives rested on her shoulders, one dead for each time she ceased to cooperate. Granted, I didn't think that would be enough to stop her from divulging everything, so I silenced her."

"And you used Daris's son to get him to work for you."

"A few months before we unleashed the plague we started rumors in his village about the Priest, how he knows everything and is always watching and how he would kidnap and eat the children of the villagers whose conduct displeased him. We even abducted many children from their homes so that the parents of the village were in a state of hysteria. By the time we got to him he was so scared at the mere mention of my name that he would have done anything to save his son. So great was his fear that he even believed we could monitor his every move, and if it wasn't to our liking, his son would be killed.

Lina's thoughts raced as she asked her next question, but having picked up on the pattern she already knew the answer. "So, somehow you believed that destroying humanity would get me to join the monster race?"

"No, but I know that there is nothing you wouldn't do for the man you love."

Lina felt her stomach twist. "You want me to become a monster, or he dies."

"Precisely." Raltaak nodded.

"Lina, you can't." Gourry said as she closed her eyes as pain washed through her.

Lina took a deep breath as she wondered which would be worse, joining the monster race and ensuring his survival for however longer the world survived, or continuing without him. Besides, it seemed as though Raltaak had already done a good job of destroying the world. What good would resisting do but earn her a lot of pain? And at least as a Mazoku, she wouldn't feel it anymore.

But then, what good would saving Gourry's life be if she couldn't be there to enjoy it with him?

"I thought you might need more convincing." Raltaak mumbled as the minutes stretched and Lina said nothing. He bellowed, the increase in volume of his voice shaking Lina to the core, "Bring them in!"

The doors flew open with a bang, and ten guards came in with two people, their hands bound in wooden handcuffs. Two people Lina recognized even though she had not seen them in years. "You bastard!" she spat, on the verge of tears.

"Your parents were the first people we infected with the plague." Raltaak explained. "We kept them alive with daily doses of the potion. But like the swordsman, they will die if they don't receive it."

"End him, Lina!" her father spat.

"How much more are you willing to lose Lina Inverse?" Raltaak asked. "Who should we cease to give the potion to first? How would you like to watch your lover die first, followed by your father and then your mother? Or perhaps we should let your mother die an agonizing death first, or…"

"Shut up." Lina spat, and she hoped her voice was not as shaky as she felt it was as the path before her became clear, "How short sighted do you think I am? If I become a monster and revert the world to chaos, then none of them will survive!"

"Just for you, we can guarantee their continued existence." He said.

"And if I'm a monster will I even care about them and make sure you follow through on that term?" Lina shot back, "And how do I know that once my usefulness has ended you won't turn on me like you did Daris? You've been blackmailing good people, forcing the feelings they have for their loved ones against them so you can destroy the world. How am I supposed to believe that it will stop with me? This insanity ends here, with me! Even if it means losing everyone I love, I can't let you rule my life like this!

"Besides," Lina added, working hard to keep her voice as cool as possible, "despite the impression of me you may have gotten from Hellmaster, I didn't cast the Giga Slave to destroy the world, I did it because I knew I had a chance of winning!"

Raltaak grinned, "I forgot."

Before anyone could react, he reached a hand forward and shot a beam of energy at Sylphiel, who flew back against the wall, blood gushing from a hideous stomach wound. Lina felt her world narrow and the nausea rose within her. Was she alive? She couldn't die! If Sylphiel died, their chance of finding the spell died with her!

Amelia ran to her and started chanting a Resurrection spell as Raltaak shot another beam of energy at them. This time Gourry was prepared, intercepting it with his sword and cutting through the energy so that it missed Amelia and Sylphiel.

"What?" he exclaimed, "But you no longer have the Sword of Light…"

"Your information is out of date." Lina said, thanking her lucky stars that they had told no one, not even Zel or Amelia, "Gourry found a new magical sword."

Gourry assumed a defensive posture before Amelia as she chanted over Sylphiel. "Fools." Raltaak spat, "You honestly think you have a chance of getting the spell out of her?"

"You should know better than to underestimate me!" Lina said, with a force of conviction she did not truly feel.

Raltaak glared at his guards, "Kill the Shrine Maiden, and anyone who tries to save her!"

The guards moved forward and were greeted by Gourry and Zel. Lina saw her father provoke one of the guards, holding up his wooden shackles before him so they were sliced in two by the other man's blade as her mother knocked his feet from beneath him. Her father grabbed the man's sword and quickly cut through her mother's shackles, which she used to throw at one of the men who was taking on Zel, causing him to fall to the ground in a heap beside his comrades.

Raltaak aimed a few other blows at Sylphiel, but Lina had put a defensive shield before them as new guards started pouring in. "I can't do anything about Raltaak while she's here!" Lina yelled as another beam of energy hit her shield.

"Bomb di Wind!" Zel chanted, clearing a path through the guards, and Amelia wasted no time in picking up Sylphiel.

"Where's a safe place?" she asked Lina's mother, who ended an incoming guard with a well-timed Blast Ash spell.

"Follow me!" she said, taking off with Amelia behind her, her husband hot on her heels, leaving Lina, Gourry and Zel to face Raltaak.

"Are you really going to risk his survival, your mother's survival, and your father's survival on the slim chance that the Shrine Maiden will pull through and the even slimmer chance that you can get the spell out of her?" Raltaak asked.

Perhaps sensing that her resolve was waning, Gourry put a hand on her shoulder, "I met her father awhile back." Lina looked up at him, wondering if he was joking, "He's a good man, and he wouldn't want his daughter to become a monster just to save him. And neither would I."

Lina reached back and held his hand and squeezed it as Zel watched them carefully. She could feel the eyes of all three of them watching her carefully, wondering what she was going to do. "Since you didn't understand me last time, let me make it clear to you. I'm no one's puppet! Even if I lose Gourry and my parents, I have too much to live for. And even if I didn't, the remaining people in this world have too much to live for for me to let you get away with this."

Raltaak's eyes narrowed as Lina continued, "But I don't plan to let it come to that. I will end you, and I will find that spell, and I will make sure everyone I care about gets through this. In other words, it's time I bring you down!"

Zel noticeably relaxed as Gourry sent Raltaak a hard glare. Gourry stepped in front of her, his sword held aloft. Bravado aside, Lina was scared. She couldn't even think as far as Sylphiel's survival. How was she going to take down Gaav's priest when she couldn't use the Ragna Blade? At least she couldn't if she didn't want to lose the baby. She closed her eyes as a maze of choices stretched before her. It seemed if she took one action she could save one loved one but sacrifice another. Finding the path that would save everyone seemed impossible. Even if she won the life of a loved one, she had a bad feeling that it would be at the cost of another.

On the one hand, if she used the Ragna Blade and destroyed Raltaak, but Sylphiel lived and she got the spell out of her, then even if she lost this baby she could have another one with Ggourry. But if she lost this baby and Gourry didn't survive, and her parents didn't survive, then she would have nothing.

And if Lina was honest with herself, it was difficult to see how she would be able to get the spell out of Sylphiel, even if she did survive. Despite her confident words to Raltaak, she wasn't fighting on the off chance she would win. She was fighting to destroy him before he whittled her resolve away and she changed her mind.

In other words, the Ragna Blade was out. She would have to find another way.

Lina cast a boost spell as Gourry locked his gaze with Raltaak while Zel chanted his own spell. Lina braced herself for the inevitable summoning of Mazoku minions, but was surprised when it didn't happen. Was it her imagination, or did she hear the sounds of fighting from outside the room? She hoped Sylphiel was okay.

Gourry charged at Raltaak, and the air became thick with an oppressive force. Gourry stopped in his tracks as he struggled to remain standing while Lina cried out a little and halted her spell casting. Beside her she heard Zel also stop under the force of Raltaak's will. Lina shuddered as she gritted her teeth and resumed chanting. It was unpleasant to be sure, but it wasn't going to harm her.

Raltaak disappeared, rematerializing by Zel and knocking him with a blast of energy into the wall. Lina cursed herself for getting into a position where she would be facing down a monster without being able to use the Ragna Blade, the only tool in her kit that could cut through the dimensional wall. Raltaak's will thickened oppressively, "It won't take much to render you unconscious, and then you will have time to reconsider."

Lina glared at him as he disappeared. Raltaak rematerialized by Gourry, who was ready for him and lunged with the Blast Sword. Raltaak disappeared again, rematerializing behind Gourry. Lina had to admit that if Raltaak had tried that with any other swordsman it would have worked. But Gourry had somehow managed to roll away from him and to cut the blast of energy that Raltaak threw at him.

Raltaak disappeared, and when he materialized his will was overpowering, forcing both Lina and Gourry to their knees. Raltaak charged at Gourry again just as the door shot open and a woman with white blond hair ran in, "Ra Tilt!" she yelled, catching Raltaak off guard and hitting him squarely with it.

The oppressiveness of his will lifted, and Gourry lunged and brought his sword down upon Raltaak, slicing him through the torso. "Gourry get back!" Lina yelled, and as he made his way to stand beside her Lina finished her spell, "Blast Bomb!"

"Inside, you're crazy!" a newly roused Zel yelled as a cyclone of fire enveloped Raltaak.

A man with black hair ran in, his arms posed to cast a spell. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the massive fiery cyclone enveloping Raltaak, "What the hell!?"

By then Lina knew the battle was decided in their favor. Raltaak screamed in rage as his body turned white before disintegrating into dust. It was a victory, but it didn't feel like one. With Raltaak died the most full proof way of saving Gourry and her parents. Lina felt a strange sense of grief well up within her as she stared at the spot where Raltaak had stood.

"The Blast Bomb?" the blond woman asked, "You cast one of those inside? We're lucky the building didn't catch fire!"

"We survived," Lina said nonchalantly. Suddenly her legs gave out and she collapsed forward on her hands and knees, trembling from head to toe.

Gourry knelt beside her and put a hand on her back. "You okay?"

Physically she was okay. She was unharmed. Likely the child growing within her was safe. But she was far from okay. Had Sylphiel survived? Part of her wanted to know, the other part was terrified of learning she was dead. She shook her head as she struggled against tears. She couldn't break down now.

"You know better than to show weakness." A newcomer said, and Lina looked up and felt herself grow cold as she saw that another woman had joined them. When did she get here? What was she doing here?

Lina got up and stared at the woman in disbelief as she dusted her hands on her dress and looked around the dining hall. "Looks like everyone pulled through. We nabbed Gaav's General in the foyer, along with a few other lower ranking Mazoku. Though it looks like you took care of the Priest. You do know how to make a knight feel superfluous."


	12. Chapter 12

"I thought you were dead." Lina stated.

"Yes," the knight said, a hint of satisfaction underlying her voice, "I managed to leak that story right before I went to ground. By then the situation was completely out of control, unfortunately. Raltaak and Rashatt had pulled off an amazing campaign of misinformation that I didn't untangle it until it was too late.

"Still, I managed to salvage the situation by swiftly rounding up every powerful sorcerer and sorceress I could track down. Course I had to leave our folks to tough it out, but I knew they'd survive. Looks like we made it just in the nick of time, too."

"And you couldn't tell your own sister?" Lina snapped.

Luna shrugged, "You work best when I leave you alone. I knew you could get your butt here on your own steam, and there were some big players I wanted on our side that likely wouldn't have, so I focused on finding them. Considering the significant disadvantage we started out at, things really started working in our favor towards the end."

Lina was glad that Amelia was not here to say something trite about justice always prevailing as she stared at Luna warily for a moment before reaching forward and hugging her. When they let go Lina said. "Still doesn't change the fact that the vast amount of humanity is dead."

Luna cocked her head, and Lina suddenly had the strange feeling that she knew she was pregnant. "But with the Cult of Shabranigdo vanquished we can rebuild. Anyway, I think introductions are in order. You know Luka and Milina?" She said, indicating the white blond haired woman who was helping Zelgadis up and the man with black hair.

"We've met." Lina confirmed.

"I'm Luna Inverse, this one's sister." She said, pointing at Lina as she stared at Gourry and Zel.

Gourry smiled in his friendly manner while Zel's eyes widened. "So you're the Ceiphied Knight."

"The what?" Gourry asked.

"Never mind," Lina said, waving her hand dismissively, "This is Zelgadis, a friend. And that's Gourry, my…"

Lina choked on her words. What _was_ Gourry to her now? They were far more than the companions that she had described themselves as for so long. Though he'd styled himself her protector, he was far more than that. But lover didn't seem right, neither did boyfriend. Neither could convey all that they were to the other. And given her current condition it also seemed rather illicit. "My husband." Lina wrapped up confidently.

Gourry's head snapped in her direction as his eyes widened in shock while Zel started to say, "When did…" only to be interrupted when Lina stepped on his foot.

Gourry recovered quickly, though, and put an arm around her and beamed brightly at Luna. "Nice to meet you."

"Hm." Luna said as she nodded and seemed to look Lina over with piercing eyes, "Well I knew about the bun in the over, but not your change in marital status. Interesting, my sources must be behind."

Lina reddened. "Sources?" she repeated, "Who do you have keeping tabs on me?"

"Well enough about that." Luna said briskly, "We need to find our parents."

"And Sylphiel." Lina said quietly as they headed out the door. Figuring that if her sister's sources of information were as good as she claimed they were then she ought to know everything that Lina knew, "Unless you have any idea what spell they're using to activate the potion."

"Unfortunately, no. And not for lack of trying. The Priest and General put extensive measures into keeping that a secret." Luna replied, "But I have a feeling you have a solution in mind."

"I do." Lina said as she followed her into the hallway, "But if Sylphiel didn't survive, then we're sunk. She's the only person left alive who knows the spell."

"That we know of." Luna said. "I've already tasked some of the other sorcerers that I rounded up with tracking down any books or manuscripts that might be here."

"Once I learned what was happening I tried to listen outside their room, but it looks like they enchanted it with a silencing spell." Lina continued as she followed her sister through the hallways. "If Daris had only trusted me enough to come to me for help."

Luna shook her head, "Between the rumors they poisoned his village with and how the Cult of Shabranigdo terrorized him when they captured him he was too scared to have ever risked it. The General was communicating with him via an amulet Daris kept, and every so often he would make ominous statements that he knew what he did and make threats with his son in the room. He wasn't going to risk it."

They entered a room with a double bed in it. Lina felt a weight lift from her shoulders as she saw that Sylphiel lay within, breathing steadily, asleep but alive. Around the bed stood Amelia and her parents. "Thank goodness."

"You're okay!" Amelia said as she ran into Zel's arms.

"And so are you!" Lina's mother said as she ran up and grabbed both of her daughters.

Lina closed her eyes and clung to her mother. "They told me you were dead." Lina stated.

"They kept us alive, and well kept." Her father stated bitterly, "Like pigs for the slaughter."

"You're okay." Lina said as she broke free from her mother and went to hug her father, not wanting to think about how long they would stay okay, "We made it this far."

"Do you have a plan, Lina?" Gourry asked quietly.

Her mother's eyes brightened as she noticed him, while her father stared at him, his expression unreadable. "Lina, who's this?" she asked.

"Her husband." Luna said deviously.

"You got married without telling me!" Lina's mom shrieked with Amelia in unison.

Lina shrugged, "We thought you were dead. Besides, with humanity mostly gone it wasn't as if we had a big celebration with a long table. Anyway," Lina said, getting down to business, "I do have an idea. Granted, it's probably a long shot, but there's a chance it could work, so here it goes."

Lina explained about casting a full powered Giga Slave, which really wasn't news to anyone, not even her parents, and about how she recently started seeing other people's nightmares and realized she now had the power to control them. "So I figure if I have that power, I can go to sleep and find my way into Sylphiel's dream and coax the spell out of her that way."

Everyone in the room stared at her for a minute. "It sounds crazy, I know." Lina added lamely as Amelia shifted nervously.

"Sounds like the best plan we have." Luna said.

"Sounds like the only plan we have." Zel added.

"It's just," Amelia said nervously, "When we tried to get more information out of Sylphiel, she nearly died."

"Which is where you come in, Amelia." Lina said, "We'll need you on hand with a Resurrection spell if needed."

"What about you?" Gourry asked, looking down at Lina, "Could something bad happen to you?"

"That's what I'm worried about." Amelia continued, "When we tried to get information about who the spell derived power from, the spell attacked me as well."

The image of the staff spinning out of control and hitting Amelia in the stomach rose in Lina's mind. "Luckily it won't have a staff to attack with." Lina said.

"Lina," Gourry said softly.

"I'm not saying it's not without risk, but considering that so many lives are on the line I'm willing to do it!" Lina snapped. "Humanity's future lies in getting this spell!"

Lina's mother stared at Lina, Gourry and Amelia, confusion and fear etched on her features. "Is it more dangerous than facing down a high ranking Mazoku?"

Amelia avoided Lina's mother's gaze while Lina glared warningly at Amelia and Gourry, "No, it's not. I'm going in."

Amelia looked up at Lina contemplatively and then shook her head, "We need to get another healer, someone who can use Resurrection."

Lina nodded in agreement. "I know someone." Luna said, "Luke, get Releah."

"Why do I have to be the errand boy?" Luke snapped.

"Shut up and do it you arrogant little prick!" Luna barked.

Luke sent her a mutinous look but left all the same. Amelia looked at Sylphiel, "I guess I should wake her and run this by her."

Lina shifted her footing. She was fairly sure that Sylphiel would give her consent. She had been willing to risk it back by the stream. As Amelia chanted the counter sleeping spell Gourry grabbed her shoulder, "Can we talk for a moment? Alone?"

Lina shrugged, "Sure."

They walked out of the room and went to the adjoining one. Lina braced herself for what she believed would be his inevitable protests. She was pregnant. She couldn't possibly risk something so dangerous! Instead once she closed the door behind them he grinned dopily, "Husband?" he sang.

"Huh?" Lina said, taken off guard, "Um, you don't mind, do you?"

He hugged her tightly, "Off course I don't! I just don't remember making it official."

Lina smiled, "We didn't, idiot. But do we really need to? What does a piece of paper or a ceremony really matter anyway? It won't change what you mean to me."

He kissed her enthusiastically. When he pulled away he grinned, "Fine by me, wife."

He wrapped an arm around her and they made to go back into the other room. "So, you're not worried about me trying to invade Sylphiel's dreams?"

"Of course I'm worried." He said, "I always worry about you. But you've never failed yet, have you?" He squeezed her gently, "I believe in you."

Feeling cheered and invincible, they re-entered the room to find that Sylphiel was sitting up in the bed, looking tired but determined. Luke had returned, a woman dressed in white healer's robes by his side. Lina's mother glared at her as she returned, "You're having a ceremony when we get home because I want to see it!"

Lina waved her hand dismissively, "Not now. Sylphiel, you understand what's what?"

Sylphiel nodded resolutely and laid back down on her side and closed her eyes. Lina kicked off her boots and took off her mantle, "It's a bit crowded in here."

Luke and Milina left, along with Zel and Luna. Her parents agreed to wait in the hallway, leaving Gourry, Amelia and Releah to take seats by the bed. Lina lied down and got into a comfortable position, thanking her lucky stars that in this case at least pregnancy was helping her. She was so tired she felt she could fall asleep in the middle of a busy town square.

She closed her eyes, and felt herself pulled effortlessly into sleep.

* * *

It was dark. The void before her stretched infinitely. Lina groaned. Why, of all nights, did she have to find herself in her own nightmare? And how was she supposed to get to Sylphiel's? Lina stared at the void, her frustration rising at the endless blackness. It didn't take her too long to realize that stewing in her frustration was not going to help her join minds with Sylphiel.

Lina concentrated, focusing with all of her might on Sylphiel. Sylphiel. Sylphiel!

Lina started to see faint images against the back drop of the void. Encouraged Lina continued to chant Sylphiel's name in her mind. The images grew starker as Lina could hear the sounds of someone yelling. A man! Daris? Could it really be that easy?

A worrying thought broke through Lina's mind. What if this wasn't Sylphiel's dream? What if she was just projecting what she wanted to see into her own unconscious mind? The images started to fade, and Lina cursed herself. _Stay focused!_

She started chanting Sylphiel's name again, and once more the images became more distinct, the voice that was yelling more clear. Only it wasn't Daris. "How could you?" the man yelled, and Lina could hear a young girl sobbing, "How could you? Don't you realize what you've done? It can never be replaced! Never!"

"Father, please!" Sylphiel whimpered, as the image of Sylphiel as a child crystallized before Lina.

"Don't!" Uruk shouted, his image becoming clearer, "After all I've done for you, you go and steal the Blessed Blade and lost it!"

"I didn't mean…"

"No of course you didn't mean," he said sardonically, "You and your pranks! I've had it up to here with them! You've been nothing but an embarrassment to this temple! And I've had enough of you, I'm sending you away!"

Fairly sure that this was Sylphiel's dream Lina started to change it, first by morphing Uruk into Daris. Sylphiel cried and pleaded as Uruk's hair turned darker until it was black and his hat disappeared. His fine priestly robes became roughhewn. He continued to berate Sylphiel as Lina started to work on changing the background from what appeared to be Sylphiel's room in Sairaag into a generic room.

Suddenly a translucent figure in blue entered the room. "What?" Lina whispered as she stared at it. There was something eerily familiar about it. And she was certain she had not willed it into existence. But it didn't seem to be part of the nightmare. Was it some random figment of Sylphiel's conscious?

There was something comforting about the presence that caused the room to glow with peace and tranquility. The dream started to fade, and Lina swore. When the dream turned pleasant Lina lost her ability to control it.

Lina thought about the line of dead plague victims, standing erect even as the flesh rotted off their bones. The figure in blue became more distinct, and Lina was stunned to realize it was Gourry! He didn't look quite right, though. His face was distorted, but his calming presence was strong.

"Master Gourry!" Sylphiel cried as she ran and clung to him.

Lina felt jealousy rise hotly through her as she wondered yet again just whose nightmare this was as Gourry's image, as fuzzy as a watercolor, held Sylphiel. Frustration rushed through Lina like a wave as she thought of the potentially wasted effort and wondered why she could not link to Sylphiel's mind.

But then the dream started to fade again, which confused Lina further. If it was her nightmare it should keep on going, but if it was Sylphiel's then it would make sense that it would fade. As a test, Lina willed Gourry's form to morph monstrously, his eyes glowing like red embers as his mouth sprouted fangs. The dream became more distinct as Sylphiel screamed and ran from him.

Lina felt herself calm down again and she figured that the odds that this was Sylphiel's dream were strong. She hoped. Telling herself to focus on the mission and ignore the oddness of the dream, she set back to creating an image of Daris.

A big ball of orange rose, and misty white orbs started to dot the sky. "Oh, come on!" Lina cried, "Where did you come from?"

A thought struck her that it could be part of the curse, creating random bits of dream flotsam to distract her. Lina resolved to be more focused as she worked to create an image of Daris in a dreary inn. But she was having a hard time bringing the inn into focus. Lina saw the blue figure return, lying beside a figure in red staring up at the white orbs as the image of Daris she conjured yelled at Sylphiel. Lina knew better than to be distracted by the figures in blue and red, but she couldn't help it. There was something familiar about the scene.

And then it snapped into place!

Cloud watching on a sunny day with Gourry by her side. Something she found soothing and comforting. An image she often projected when she was trying to fill the void she saw with happy images in her recurring nightmare.

Only she realized it wasn't her recurring nightmare. It was her unborn son's! Now that she looked for it she could sense the third mind there. A mind, not a conscious. It was strange. There was no purpose, no feeling, no sense of curiosity from it or even purpose. Its ability to project images seemed more reflexive than anything else.

Lina was torn between fascination and annoyance. If what she was doing wasn't so damn important she would have loved nothing better than to probe the mind! But it was important. Lives were on the line.

Deciding that she really needed something big to distract her, Lina brought forth a vision of the palace at Seyruun, just outside the garden, overgrown and untamed in the wake of the plague. A skeletal man rode on a wagon as he left the palace and waved at Sylphiel, "You're back."

Lina felt Sylphiel's frustration bubble. She wanted to say something, but couldn't. Daris started talking to the man, "Lina Inverse is here now, with her companion. He's dying."

The man riding the wagon disappeared into the mist that surrounded the palace as Sylphiel's sense of fear swelled. "We're in luck. But do anything to jeopardize my son or you'll pay!" Daris sneered, but his lips weren't moving.

Behind Daris a shadow rose and took a monstrous form as a red mask covered his face. The indistinct forms of red flowers started to float through the dream, and though Lina laughed, she had to admit that her son's attempt to project an image she had projected to him once added to the eerie affect. Lina could feel Sylphiel's terror ricochet up, the flowers surrounding her like circles of blood.

A circle of black hooded figures surrounded Sylphiel, hissing at her to keep her silence. Lina focused and brought forth the figure of a woman, ill with the plague lying on a pallet on the floor. "Time to prepare the potion!" Lina made an ominous sounding voice command.

Daris stepped forward, but just as he did the dream started to collapse. It was different from the fade that had happened before when Sylphiel felt soothed. She could feel Sylphiel's conscious slip away and tearing pain welling through her own body. The dream was starting to lose form and cohesion, and with a start she realized she could no longer feel the mind of her unborn child.

Panic charged through her, and the dream stabilized but this time they were by a grave. Daris was gone. Sylphiel's father was standing beside her. "You had a cure with you this whole time, but you did nothing to save them!"

Sylphiel shook her head as she sobbed while her father continued to berate her. "You could have tried harder! You let so many die!"

Uruk continued berating her as Lina gathered her bearings, struggling to feel the third mind. Nothing. Lina felt torn as her panic rose. She wanted to wake up and ask Amelia if he was okay. But she also needed to get this information from Sylphiel! Reasoning that if he was gone there was nothing more she could do for him, but a lot more she do for the survivors by continuing, she took a deep breath. She knew the risks before she started this. And if she had lost the baby, she'd better make it count for something.

"Tell me the chant!" Uruk ordered as Lina channeled her will through him, his voice deep and thunderous.

Sylphiel opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Only a horrible croaking as the dream started to tremble. "Enough!" Lina willed Uruk to say, "You are stronger than this curse!"

"Let the poor body…" Sylphiel began weakly.

"Now, now," a familiarly aggravating voice that seemed to resound from everywhere mocked as Lina repeated the first four words over and over in her mind so that she could remember them, "That's not allowed now, is it?"

And then the world seemed to crack in two as the dream again started to disintegrate. Lina felt her own grip on consciousness start to falter and focused all of her energy on keeping it together. Sylphiel's lips worked silently for a minute, but then she continued, her words slow and slurred, "Ravaged by disease…"

A tornado, black as tar, formed over Sylphiel, spearing her. The dream blacked out threateningly, and Lina felt panic grip her as she heard a woman chant frantically in the background. Suddenly the dream was back, faded and weak, but present. Sylphiel lay by the grave, her father yelling at her as the tornado whirled menacingly over her. Lina shrieked and drew forth a gust of wind to push the tornado away.

Wondering how she was even going to remember the chant even if she managed to get the rest of it Lina fought against the tornado, and it fought back. The dream remained weak, and Lina feared that Sylphiel didn't have much left in her. Lina kept the tornado at bay as she willed Uruk to yell, "Finish the chant!"

Blood poured out of Sylphiel's mouth. But it was a dream, she didn't really need it, did she? "Be cleansed and purified," She continued as the world around reverberated with her voice.

The tornado moved to strike at her again and Lina imagined it bursting into a million pieces, which it did. In a flash of realization, Lina knew she had the power to defeat the curse, in this battlefield at least. "I wield the power of the Lord of Nightmares, Xellos! You cannot beat me!" Lina snarled.

Sylphiel didn't waste any time. "Let the body be made strong and healthy."

The tornado reformed, bursting from Sylphiel's throat. Lina forced it to compact upon itself as the dream blacked out again warningly. _No! _Lina pleaded silently. _Just a few more minutes!_

The chanting in the background continued as the dream stabilized. Still, when Sylphiel spoke her voice was dangerously weak, "Let the body overpower the contagion. Activate!"

The dream dissolved around her as though Sylphiel simply had no more strength to hold on and Lina fell into her own body. She was tired and exhausted, but she fought to wake up. She focused on the distant sounds of chanting. At last she could hear Amelia and Releah chanting healing spells clearly. She became aware of something wet on her pillow. It smelled coppery, like blood. Nose bleed?

Lina's eyes slowly opened. Amelia was standing over her chanting while she could see Gourry and her parents in the distance looking nervous. "Let the poor body," she whispered.

Amelia stopped chanting, and Lina noticed a sheen of sweat on her brow, "Don't talk right now, rest."

"I have to tell you, before I forget!" Lina said as she reached out and gripped Amelia's arm. Amelia stopped chanting. "Someone, write it down."

Lina saw her mother grab a piece of parchment from wherever she kept all of the things she did and a quill. "Let the poor body ravaged by disease be cleansed and purified. Let the body be made strong and healthy. Let the body overpower the contagion. Activate!"

Lina leaned back against the pillows, thoroughly exhausted. Had she gotten it right? She couldn't even work up the energy to check on Sylphiel. "Read it back to me." Lina ordered.

Her mother did so. "Is that right?"

Was it? Lina wasn't sure. It sounded right, but what if it wasn't? What if she hadn't heard Sylphiel correctly? What if something got lost on the journey? Lina decided she couldn't worry about it now. She closed her eyes and nodded. She was so sleepy. Still, she had to tell Gourry something important. She forced her eyes open and looked at him, "I lost the baby." She confessed.

His eyes widened as her mother exclaimed, "Baby!?"

Amelia held her hand over her stomach and chanted, "You didn't, he's fine."

Lina shook her head as a tear ran down her face, "You're just saying that. I felt…"

"You don't know what you felt." Amelia shot back, "Rest."

She began chanting again and Lina closed her eyes. Dimly she was aware of her mother chewing Gourry out for not telling them she was pregnant, which would have been highly amusing under different circumstances. And Amelia's assurances to the contrary, Lina had felt the disappearance of the third mind. As she drifted into sleep, she fervently hoped she'd gotten the spell right, that her sacrifice had not been for nothing. The next few days would be hell what with waiting to see if the spell and potion kept the symptoms of the plague at bay. But for now Lina was depleted. Swiftly she settled into the oblivion of sleep.


	13. Epilogue

Humans, Lina reflected as she rested her hands on her swollen belly, were nothing if but resilient. She inhaled the fresh scent of a recently constructed wooden building and felt pride flow through her as her daughter kicked and punched her from within, Lina's tiny body stained and pushed to the limit to accommodate her. At the podium of the new auditorium Amelia made a long, drawn out speech about the power of perseverance as she expertly cradled her own daughter to her breast.

Lina smiled as she leaned her head on Gourry's shoulder while the boys fidgeted in their seats around them. Back when the plague had hit Lina had a vague idea of teaching sorcery to the surviving children. When she had returned home from the Kataart Mountains ten years ago exhausted and heavily with child it had seemed an uphill battle. The survivors of the plague were too concerned with mere survival to worry about sparing a child for the arduous process of learning sorcery.

Lina could see why learning a light spell could seem useless to a family who had barely had anything to eat. Few farmers had survived the plague, and the first few years famine seemed to threaten to overwhelm the community. But sorcery could help make yields from farming more predictable, and once people realized that the number of her students grew, right along with the number of children she and Gourry had.

And now they had finally outgrown the rooms they had been assigned at the palace and given their own building. One of the few that had been constructed since the fire had nearly destroyed the city. The fire that, Lina had learned once Sylphiel had come out of her coma after Lina had broken the curse on her, had not been started by either her or Daris, but had likely been a stroke of bad luck. As Zel had said, a stray bolt of lightning combined with no one to notice until it had gotten out of control had led to conditions ripe for a fire to consume a city.

It also meant that dangers far more common than mazoku threatened the tiny community. Fire, flood, famine always lurked in the background, ready to take every hard earned victory the group of surviving humans had so painstakingly won. And then there was the human menace that arose from conflicts between Naga, Amelia and the cabinet over how to rule the kingdom. They had made great strides, but Lina never let herself forget that it could all be torn down in an instant.

Amelia finally wrapped up her speech, and the crowd applauded politely. Gourry helped Lina up as she ignored her aching back as she walked around and looked at the school while the boys started to chase each other up and down the hallways as they roped Amelia, Zel, Naga and Sylphiels' children into the chaos along with their cousins and the multitude of other kids whose parents had dragged them to the ceremony. There were several classrooms, and in the back there were fields for sparring and practicing big, dangerous spells. Lina had given a tremendous amount of thought to what the school would need and it was good to see it in action.

And it was needed. When Lina had returned home to Seyruun she was not too surprised to find that she had not been the only one who had been besieged by a desperate need to reproduce. Soon every woman was either pregnant or nursing an infant. Even Zel and Amelia had found a way around his issue with infertility. And now most of the population was very young, and very powerful. With most of the surviving population being the most powerful of sorcerers, the percentage of humans who had the capacity to use spells as strong as the Dragon Slave or Ra Tilt had never been higher. Which was part of the reason that even, despite its rocky beginnings, Lina's idea for a school had been so popular. It was desperately needed.

Granted, Lina thought as she saw two people join the crowd, not everyone had been bitten by the baby bug.

"This is incredible." Milina said as she looked around, her arms laden with scrolls and books that she and Luke had raided from some library.

"So it this!" Lina said as her eyes lit up, "It that the lost text of Yessel? Where did you find it?"

"Atlas City. Along with a small surviving community of sorcerers." Luke said.

After the dust had settled, Luke and Milina continued to travel the Inner World looking for rare and precious manuscripts to deliver to Seyruun. They even brought survivors back to the city. And yet, despite Luke's constant declarations of love for Milina, she never seemed interested in settling down with Luke. But she didn't seem interested in finding someone better suited to her either.

Every time Lina asked her about it she changed the subject. In all it gave her an uneasy feeling, especially since she couldn't shake the idea that her sister did not trust Luke either. Not that Luna would ever talk to her about it.

As Lina shifted through the manuscripts, a small middle aged woman came up to her, "I've been meaning to have a word with you."

"Oh?" Lina said, bracing herself to prepare for the usual parent with delusions of grandeur about her children's powers. Having a child who was predisposed to sorcery was becoming a badge of honor, and Lina was quickly finding that the thing she liked least about her position was having to tell some hopeful parent that their child simply had less magical aptitude than a troll.

"My Kacia's been having nightmares." She said.

Nightmares. So it wasn't delusions of grandeur, it was nightmares. Internally Lina groaned as irritation flashed through her. "So? Kids have nightmares."

"Yes, but strangely it only happens when she crosses one of your boys."

Lina glared at Kacia's mother, "Then she shouldn't cross my boys."

Lina walked away as the other woman sputtered in indignation and found Gourry, who was talking to Zel. Sensing that she was agitated he looked at her curiously and wrapped an arm around her when she shook her head slightly. By now her sister's admonitions to never show weakness had sunken in so deeply that it was second nature to never do so. Because Luna was right.

The night her first son was born Lina lay awake in bed nursing him, transfixed as love like she had never felt coursed through her as she soaked him in. His hair shone like spun gold under the glare of her light spell, and he looked into her eyes with eyes as gold as coins. The golden hair and eyes was strange and foreign, at a contrast between the familiar shape to the eyes that was Gourry's mixed with the curve of the lip that was hers, proof that though he had been molded somewhat by her casting of the Giga Slave, he was truly hers and Gourry's. Lina could not remember the moment that she fell in love with Gourry, but that evening she knew she was hopelessly in love with the tiny creature at her breast.

And she felt fear the like of which she had seldom felt before. Fear so deep and terrible that someone would come and use that feeling of love against her.

She must not show weakness.

Every child she bore thereafter was a cause for celebration and worry. After all, the last person who wanted to get to her killed millions of people to do so. What would the next lunatic do to get to her? Using her children seemed to be a frighteningly tangible possibility.

Kacia's mother wasn't the only one who complained about her children having nightmares. Lina tried to keep tabs on her boys as she slept, but as their number grew it became more difficult. Further, they were better at navigating the world of nightmares than she was. They had been doing it since before they were born after all. Even if she wanted to stop them it was out of her control. Besides, she reasoned, it was better if they were feared. If they were feared then they would be left alone. She hoped.

She looked around at all they had built in the ten years since the plague had come, painfully cognizant of how it could all be destroyed in a flash. Not even the passage of time could sooth her worries that she would be left in peace. The enemy would always attack when she least expected it after all. And she wasn't the only one who felt so. Luna had taken to gathering her older boys and giving them private lessons three days a week. No one would tell her what went on, aside from her boys assuring her that their aunt was not mistreating them, but Lina figured if it was important enough for Luna to dole out private lessons, then the world was not as calm and tranquil as it appeared.

"Hey," Lina said as she grabbed her first born and wrapped him into a sideways hug.

"Mom!" he protested, and soon he was off, picking up the youngest and swinging him around to chase his other brothers with, each of them with hair and eyes as golden as his. Somehow incredibly Lina had made it through the plague with everyone she loved and cared about alive and whole. And alive and whole she would keep them, at all costs.


End file.
